The Moon, the Earth and the Sun
by Storm Alert
Summary: Byakuya and Renji are as far apart as the moon and the earth until Kaili unites them. Can she show them that what they've been looking for is right in front of them and help pull them through the worst thing in the Seireitei since Aizen's betrayal?
1. Introduction

**Well... I felt like writing something with an actual plot so... here it is. Not sure about it yet.**

**First fanfic that has a plot so if this crashes and burns well... don't be too surprised. But don't give up on me yet. I'm trying.**

**Right... for those of you who are reading Hidden Camera I am _not_ going to stop updating. It's probably going to be less frequently updated than this one, but that's nothing new. It's going to be my crack story. This is going to be seriousish. Maybe.**

**If I owned Bleach would I be posting stuff on fanfiction? No. Am I posting bleach fics on fanfiction? Yes. So do I own Bleach? No. No profit was made.**

**Warning: OOC, OC, Yaoi (but no lemons), blood (come on, it's _Bleach_), and an extremely hyperactive little kid. Now don't say I didn't warn you.**

**Anyways... On with the story. Like anybody actually read the A/N.**

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><p>Most people thought that Byakuya Kuchiki, 28th head of the great Kuchiki clan and captain of squad six of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads simply didn't care. They were wrong. Everybody in the Seireitei knew him as a cold, distant man. Most thought of him as inhuman. This was not true. Byakuya Kuchiki was more human than anybody he knew. He wasn't perfect, and he admitted it. Many thought that Byakuya didn't care for, or about anybody or anything. This was also untrue. Byakuya Kuchiki cared very much about many things.<p>

He cared about his division more than anything. He knew the name of every single person there, from the quietest unseated officer to his loud, brash Vice-Captain. He knew what the people loved, and protected, and protected it too, whenever possible. He knew that shy little Yuki had an older sister in the thirteenth division, and a pet cat named Aiko. He knew that Kaname, the newest recruit, and also one of the loudest people that Byakuya had ever met had a grandma in the Rukon district who was mostly blind and liked cabbage soup. He knew everybody's strengths and weaknesses, knew what they needed to improve, and what they were good at. He watched, and he learned, and he cared. But he never showed any of it.

Most thought that Byakuya wanted everybody in his division to be perfect. That was untrue. He knew that it was an impossible dream, and also knew that it was undesirable. He wanted everybody in his division to keep trying, to keep pushing for a goal, to keep pulling themselves up, and reaching for the next rung. He kept them at it because he knew that most wouldn't keep trying if somebody else wasn't pushing them to do it.

It was the belief of many that Byakuya prized the law above all else. This was only partially true. He was very strong in his beliefs that the law was there for a reason, but was constantly pushing back a rebellious attitude that urged him to do what _he_ wanted for a change. He also had to stop and think occasionally about the real reason for the rules set in place, and debate them silently within himself.

Everybody thought that they knew everything about them. In truth, nobody knew anything about him. They thought he was cold, unemotional, unapproachable, uncaring, lacking in compassion and kindness. They thought him incapable of love, of feeling. They thought of him as somebody to stay as far away from as possible, while watching in awe. He wasn't any of these things. Behind his gray eyes, a whirl of emotions danced, kept in place by a carefully made mask, built up over many, many years. Byakuya was lonely, loyal and kind. He cared for everybody that he came into contact with. He had loved Hisana. He loved Rukia as a sister. He had loved his parents, strict though they were, and his grandfather. He was sarcastic, and temperamental, and he had a brilliant sense of humour. Behind the mask he laughed, he cried, he screamed, he loved, he cared, and he mourned. But the mask remained in place, because he was a Kuchiki, and he had to follow the model left for him.

He didn't have to fold to the model that he was supposed to anymore. Nobody was left to tell him off. But he did. For the sake of the Kuchiki clan. He supposed that he'd have to name an heir too, but he wasn't looking forward to that.

Byakuya cared about the honour of the Kuchiki clan. He cared about the well-being of his little sister, and the health of Ukitake. He cared about his rowdy Vice-Captain, and the various people who looked upon him as 'Captain'. But he stayed behind the mask, hiding. Not for fear of what he would find if he discarded it, but because he couldn't discard it. For the benefit of the Kuchikis, he had to stay the way that he was. So Byakuya Kuchiki suffered silently. Until his new third seat, Kaili entered his life, nobody had ever seen through the mask. But, young as she was, Kaili found the man underneath without even trying.

She was nothing like anything the Sixth Division had ever seen before. She was bouncy and fun, and yet serious and determined. She completed all of her work early, and then went and found more. She would stop to talk to anybody in the hallway, and would break up fights about things that she didn't understand, between people that she didn't know without undermining anybody. She was like everybody's little sister, and anybody in the Sixth Division would give their lives for her, and yet she was quite capable of taking care of herself.

And Byakuya found that he cared about her too. She was like the sun in his lonely existence. She was always there, and promised always to be there. Nobody else could've bound together two people like she had. Nobody else would've even tried.

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><p>Renji Abarai was the complete opposite of his stoic captain. He wore his heart on his sleeve. He was loud, and expressive. He laughed when he wanted to, frowned when he had to, and cried if he needed to- although that last one was always done in private. Everybody knew him and everybody liked him. Where Byakuya was cold, Renji was warm. Where Byakuya was unapproachable, Renji was very approachable. While Byakuya was sitting at home alone on Friday nights, Renji was out partying with a group of friends so big that sometimes they had to split up into two bars. The two were like the earth and the moon. One distant and cold but very pretty to look at, and the other very much there and beautiful in a very different way. And they would have stayed that way if it weren't for Kaili, the sun.<p>

She joined them, pulled them together. She made them realize that what they needed was each other. She was there, always there, and she always knew what needed to be done, despite her young age.

The three of them, Byakuya, Renji, and Kaili. Captain, Vice Captain and Third Seat. The Moon, the Earth and the Sun.

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><p><strong>Um... Tell me what you think? It's just the intro, so there'll be the start of an actual story later, but I was trying for a sort of professional sound. Did I fail epically? I think I might've.<strong>

**Please review =) If it sucks, tell me and I'll try to improve!**

**Oh, and hugs and cookies to anybody who actually read this far! Thank you!**


	2. Meetings, lectures and hopeless wishes

**Thankee to my reviewers! You make my day, and make writing this so much easier!**

**Gah, this is depressing! I put humor in the catagorization, but I can't make it funny! Maybe I should change it... If it's not funny by the next chapter I am so changing it.**

**Anyways, I'm turning this into a sort of summer project. I'm hoping to update at least once a day, but that's probably not going to happen. If I don't finish it by September, the updates are going to slow down considerably though... I really do hope I finish it by September.**

**Anyways, I don't own Bleach, yada yada, this isn't for profit, blah, blah. You get the point.**

**On with the train wreck waiting to happen... I mean story. Yeah, I totally meant story... _Right_.**

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><p>"Abarai," Byakuya's soft yet commanding voice carried through the small office that he and Renji shared.<p>

"Yes Captain?" Renji replied, wondering if he was going to get another berating about his handwriting. He had been trying, and yet he still couldn't get it neat enough for his captain's high standards.

"We're getting a new third seat." There was no emotion in that statement, and Renji couldn't tell whether the man thought that this was good or bad. He let his gaze rest on Byakuya's long black hair. He was being spoken to by his commanding officer after all. He couldn't just keep on writing, which gave him a chance to allow his eyes to carefully take in Byakuya's slim figure and perfect hair.

"I'll get the applications ready sir," he said respectfully, his eyes following the folds in Byakuya's pure white scarf. There was no hint of the blood that had stained it so long ago. His blood.

"We're not allowed to choose." Still no emotion. Renji couldn't tell whether the man opposite him was amused by the idea, or frustrated or if he even cared at all. He had to have some sort of opinion, but whatever it was he wouldn't share it with lowly Renji Abarai.

"We're not?" Even if his captain didn't care, Renji was slightly taken aback by the idea. "Why not?" At his question Byakuya turned so that he faced his Vice Captain, his eyes as bored and uncaring as always. Renji could never tell whether the indifference in Byakuya's gray eyes was a mask or what he actually felt. Surely it had to be a mask. Surely no man could feel so little. Byakuya was holding a sheet of paper in one pale, graceful hand.

"Why not?" Byakuya repeated. "According to the Head Captain, the sixth division administrative staff is 'too hard on the recruits, the rest of the sixth division, and themselves. If left to them, nobody would be found suitable.' So, the Head Captain kindly made the choice for us. Her name is Kaili. She just recently graduated the academy with outstanding grades and was put into the Eighth Division, where she rose through the ranks at a speed many thought impossible, and is considered a 'child prodigy'. She will arrive at one this afternoon. Be sure to be here." And with that Byakuya was finished speaking to him, and he turned back to his paperwork, balanced his pen on his elegant fingers and picked up where he had left off.

Renji knew this routine well by now. He would be expected to continue also, because if he didn't Byakuya would need to know why. Getting questioned by his captain was an experience that Renji thought was best if it weren't repeated. He knew the dangers of pausing, and yet he did it anyways, thinking. Did Byakuya care that his authority was being undermined? Did the barely disguised insults bother him at all, or was it just another thing that just flew right by him without so much as brushing against him. Renji lifted his pen and began writing, only half concentrating. What was his captain? Who was his captain? And why did he, Renji Abarai, care about either question?

Although he didn't show it, Byakuya was stung by the badly veiled insults. He wasn't _that_ hard on his division. Yes, he did have high expectations, but he didn't expect anything that they couldn't give. It bothered him that even the Head Captain couldn't see that, but he had to admit that Yamamoto had never been a really perceptive man. He looked at what was shown to him, and never looked beyond it. It was his way, and as he was a very old man, he couldn't be expected to change.

The clock in the office clicked softly, and the sound of Renji's pen scratching against the paper seemed louder than it really was. Renji left for his lunch break, but Byakuya remained behind, alone and lonely in the oppressing silence of the office. Renji's lunch break ended and the man stumbled in a few minutes late. Byakuya chose not to mention anything, and he could feel his Vice Captain's thick relief drift through the air. Silence again, and despite his calm exterior, Byakuya was screaming inside. And he could do nothing except work and wait in silence because he was a Kuchiki and Kuchikis could not show emotion. They weren't allowed to show that they were as human and imperfect as the next person.

It hurt, but Byakuya had gotten used to the pain long ago. He wasn't going to give into it now.

At one o'clock exactly there was a commanding knock at the door, and Byakuya gave Renji an almost imperceptible nod. _Answer it,_ that nod said. Renji obeyed. The two had come to understand each other very well in some ways, although not at all in others. As expected, Head Captain Yamamoto was there, accompanied by a small girl who Byakuya assumed was Kaili, their new third seat, although she didn't look the part.

She was a tiny little thing, barely there really, with shining green eyes and copper coloured curls that were captured in two pig tails, framing her pale, freckled face. She looked far too young to be a third seat. She looked only eight, and although she was obviously far older, the dead aged in a far different way than the living. A child prodigy indeed.

"Captain Kuchiki, Vice Captain Abarai," Yamamoto began. "This is your new third seat, Kaili. I expect that you have her desk ready?"

"Of course Head Captain," Byakuya replied with genuine respect. Despite the old man's faults, he was an extremely good Head Captain and Byakuya couldn't help but like him. After all, he had never once failed the Soul Society in the long time that he had been Head Captain.

"Good." He nodded to Kaili, who grinned up at him, and then at Byakuya and Renji in turn. She was cute, and she seemed to shine. She would be a good addition to the ranks. "Captain Kuchiki, could I speak to you for a moment?" Despite the phrasing, it wasn't a request. Byakuya nodded his assent, despite the fact that he wanted to stamp his foot, scowl, and then lecture the man in front of him on his letter.

"Abarai, show Kaili her desk," he told his Vice Captain, forcing his voice to sound indifferent. His mask was getting harder and harder to maintain the longer he struggled to keep it up.

"Yes Captain." Renji led the bouncy young girl out of the office, and Byakuya could hear them talking once the door had been shut. He couldn't make out the individual words, but he could distinguish the voices easily. One, belonging to Kaili, was soft and light and filled with light, just like her smile had been. The other, Renji's, was gruff and warm and easy going. Neither one was like him, but he wished that he could be like them.

"Did you need something Head Captain?" Byakuya asked, standing. He was taller than Yamamoto, but he knew that this was only because the older man was stooped with age. Byakuya was quite a bit smaller than most of the male Captains. He was small for a man, slimly built with delicate looking features. Despite this, his physical strength rivalled that of a man twice as big as him, although his size made for a disadvantage in a fight.

"Don't be too hard on her." Yamamoto began. Byakuya barely swallowed back a growl of frustration. This again. He was tired of being told that he was being too hard on others. He had never ever expected anything from anyone that wasn't possible. He wasn't certain why everybody seemed to think that he did. It annoyed him, and made holding his ever present mask even harder to hold. A thousand of sarcastic retorts ran through his mind in quick succession but he shoved them back violently.

"Yes Head Captain." Sometimes Yamamoto made it so hard to hold his tongue. _Just breathe,_ he reminded himself. _Just breathe._

Yamamoto nodded, slowly. The old man did almost everything slowly now. "Good day Captain Kuchiki."

"Good day Head Captain." Byakuya went back to his desk, but he didn't start his work. Instead he listened to the people outside, wishing so much that it was a solid ache inside of his chest that he could be like them.

But he couldn't, ever. And that realization hurt even worse than the solid, unbreakable loneliness, and hopeless wishes that he knew were never going to come true.

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><p><strong>Writing as a depressed Byakuya is so depressing! Grrr! I must cheer him up. Byakuya must be cheered.<strong>

**... Did that make sense? I think not.**

**Anyways, hope you liked, and maybe you'll press the pretty button and tell me what you think? Come on, I know you want to press the button... **

**Please press the pretty review button? It'll stay depressing if you don't... Nah, it probably won't. I can only be depressing for so long, and I've almost reached my limit. It'll lighten up. Most likely. If it doesn't explode into a million pieces that are absolutely nothing like Byakuya's Bankai. First off, they won't be pink. Second off, they won't be pretty. Thirdly, you really don't want to watch it. Ever.**

**Right, so I will not let it blow up. Reviews help =)**


	3. Masks, questions and unmoving loyalties

**The next chapter is up!**

**Anyways, it's still not funny so I'm changing the categorization. It is now Hurt/comfort, although there should be some funny things somewhere... Yeah.**

**This is all mostly introduction and Byakuya and Renji thinking about each other and Kaili- we'll start getting into the more 'plotty' stuff next chapter.**

**Unfortunately for me and fortunately for everybody else, I don't own Bleach.**

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><p>Byakuya silently picked up the stack of papers that Kaili had left on his desk before she had skipped out for her lunch break. Her writing was neater than Renji's, her language precise and clear. Her signature at the bottom of the page reflected everything about her. It was bubbly, and shiny, yet neat and determined. It was hard to imagine that a little girl had done the work in front of him, and yet she was very obviously a little girl, and the work was done by her.<p>

Over the past week he had learned everything about her, as he did for the rest of his division. She liked sweet foods, and her favourite was ice cream. She hated sour foods, but could stand spicy food. She lived alone, but since she was in the barracks living quarters she wasn't too worried. Her last name was unknown to her, but she didn't mind.

"It lets me be me," she had informed Renji brightly when he had asked. "I don't have to be held back by anything that my family has done before me." Byakuya added another wish to his already tall stack. He didn't want a last name any more.

"Hey Kaili!" Rangiku's voice sounded from somewhere below him and slightly to the left. He flinched. There was one spot in the barracks where anything that you said could be heard clearly from the office. Obviously Rangiku was standing right there. Wonderful.

"Hello Rangiku, Isane, Kiyone," Kaili replied cheerfully.

"How was your first week at the office?" Kiyone asked politely.

"Best workplace _ever_." Kaili said with firm conviction. Byakuya stopped writing, still staring at the form in front of him. _Wait, what?_ The girls with Kaili seemed to think so too.

"What do you mean? Hasn't Captain Kuchiki frozen you out yet?" Kiyone protested.

"Yeah, he's a cold bastard. There's no way that it can be comfortable working near him." Rangiku agreed.

"Poor Renji," Isane murmured. Byakuya winced. Ouch.

"He's not actually that bad."

"Not that bad?"

"Girl, he doesn't care about anybody. He's always striding around like he's better than everybody, and snubbing people. He's the coldest man _ever_, and that's coming from somebody who works for Toshiro!"

Byakuya sighed. This was nothing new. He knew exactly what his reputation was around the Seireitei, and he knew why it had to stay that way. He just didn't like it.

"He cares." Kaili spoke with conviction odd for somebody so young. "He cares about everybody in this division, I know it."

"How do you know _that_?"

"He calls everybody by name. When Aileen's cat died on Wednesday and she was late, he knew but he didn't say anything. He even switched the work that she was supposed to do with somebody else's and took on the extra himself so that she got off early."

"Where did you figure this all out?"

"I'm third seat." Byakuya could almost hear Kaili's shrug.

"Poor you," Rangiku muttered.

"I already told you, it's not that bad. Captain Kuchiki's actually nice, he just shows it in a different way than most people. And Renji's funny and kind too."

"They both expect everybody to be perfect!" Isane protested.

"Renji's an awesome friend and all, but he does," Rangiku agreed. "And I can't imagine Captain Kuchiki being _anybody's_ friend." _Join the club,_ Byakuya thought, a scowl passing quickly over his handsome features.

"Neither of them expects anything that can't be given," Kaili corrected. "They both want the people in the division to keep working to better themselves, but they've never asked anybody to be perfect, and they don't expect it." There was a mutter of disagreement from the other girls, but their voices were fading now- they were walking away. Byakuya stared at the pen in his hand, not really seeing it. How had she done it? She had figured out in a week what everybody else still hadn't realized, and they had known him for years. Another thought flashed across Byakuya's mind. Had Yamamoto planned this?

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><p>Renji sat at a table with Momo, Shuhei and Izuru. The four of them were sharing lunch before each had to get back to their respective duties. Normally Yumichika and Ikkaku would be there too, but both were busy- fighting most likely. Renji watched his friends silently. Before Aizen's betrayal he had considered all three as lucky. Each had had a kind, respectful captain. They had loved their commanding officers, sharing stories about the funny things that Gin had done, or the kindness that Aizen had shown Momo just before, or the trick that Tosen had taught Shuhei that helped speed up the editorial process quite a bit- and how Tosen could edit a paper while being blind Renji still didn't know.<p>

But now, all three of their captains were gone, betrayed the soul society, and dead. And he was left with a loyal, duty bound captain. He had always complained about Byakuya before, about the work that he piled onto his assistant captain; about the icy looks he treated him with when he was late, and about the constant insults of his handwriting. But now he found that he had nothing to complain about. His captain was there. He had fought for the Seireitei, and had been injured for the Seireitei. He hadn't left them, and Aizen's betrayal had left Renji wondering. What would he have done if it had been _his_ captain who had left?

Lunch was a silent affair- Momo, Shuhei and Izuru didn't speak much anymore, although Izuru had always been quite shy. The four of them parted ways, and Renji strolled back to his office, lost in thought. He couldn't imagine the sixth division without Captain Kuchiki. The man kept everything going in a way that he was certain nobody else could have done. Nobody else could have memorized every officer's name, for example. And nobody else would have even bothered to tailor the amount of work done by each person to fit that person's needs, taking all of the extra himself. Not a single soul in the whole of the Seireitei would have managed to push every single person in the division to keep on working at getting stronger when everybody considered themselves 'strong enough already'. No, if Byakuya Kuchiki had left, division six would have crumbled.

They needed their captain more than any other division did. So why did they all hate him more than any other person in any other division hated theirs?

The answer was simple. Byakuya had never made himself likable. Renji swallowed hard as he entered the barracks. He was certain that it was a mask. There was no way that anybody as indifferent as Byakuya seemed to be could ever care enough to hold the division up like he did. Which led one to wonder, _what is the mask for? And what purpose does it serve?_

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><p><strong>Hope you liked =)<strong>

**Please review and tell me what could use improving, changing, reworking, etc.**

**- Stormy =)**


	4. Sacrifice, boredom and upcoming disaster

**This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but I couldn't find a way to make it longer... Sorry =(**

**Anyways, I don't own Bleach, I love reviews, and I can't write a funny story with a plot or a story with a plot that's funny. So this isn't funny... And I'm still not certain if it makes sense.**

**Does anybody actually read these? Really? Or is it just me?**

**... It's just me, isn't it?**

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><p>Everything that everybody had thought they'd known as the truth about Byakuya Kuchiki had been brutally challenged, thrown about a bit, and then violently ripped down in the space of twenty-four hours. Now it wasn't only Renji and Kaili questioning the stoic captain's calm mask, but everybody in sixth division, and soon, everybody in the Seireitei. Those who had claimed to know everything there was to know about the man was left on the sidelines, staring in disbelief as the one thing that everybody had thought they had known for certain turned out to be a lie. A carefully built, carefully maintained lie that hurt nobody except for Byakuya Kuchiki himself.<p>

_And,_ Renji contemplated, staring at the glittering ceiling of stars above him, _did it ever hurt him._ As the cracks in the neatly built façade began to show, so did the pain that it brought to the captain. His captain. The man whom he was supposed to protect above all else. And it turned out that he hadn't even managed to protect him from the worst hurt in his existence. One that he himself inflicted, not because he wanted it, or because he needed it, but for his division and his clan. That was the ultimate sacrifice of a man who had never once considered doing something just for himself in his entire life.

That was the sacrifice of a man who cared more than anything about the people around him and would give anything to protect them. It was the sacrifice of the one whom Renji served, but could never equal.

Renji shut his eyes but didn't sleep. He was certain that he wouldn't be able to with the events of the past day buzzing around his skull, not giving him any chance to rest.

It had started like a perfectly ordinary Tuesday morning. When Renji walked into the office Byakuya was already there, working silently, and Kaili was running paperwork to the eleventh division. This was a futile effort since everybody knew it wasn't going to get done. Yumichika was the only person in the eleventh who ever did paperwork, and he only did it when he felt like it. Renji sat down at his desk with a sigh, and began to work slowly, hating every second of it. He was tempted to turn the paperwork on his desk into paper airplanes and throw them across the room at Byakuya, but had a feeling that such actions would have him locked up somewhere without food or water for the whole entire day, and restrained himself.

Kaili returned and got back to work. Renji left to supervise training. He returned sweaty and grinning. Kaili gave him a happy little wave. Byakuya completely ignored his presence. Nothing unusual happened, nothing to suggest the coming tragedy. But it was coming, and nobody realized it.

Byakuya had been sitting in the same position since three in the morning, working silently. His back ached, and his head ached, and he longed to get up and go for a walk to stretch his legs, but he knew all too well that that would mean that he was left sitting in this damnable chair in this despicable office long after nightfall, finishing the stacks of work in front of him. So he stayed, listening as Renji left for the training session, and then came back later. He envied his carefree vice captain, but didn't show it. He didn't even acknowledge the other man's presence, although he knew that this hurt him.

Surreptitiously, Byakuya stretched his legs out under his desk, not shifting his position any, just trying to get them to stop cramping. Behind him the clock in the office ticked away the seconds until disaster. But nobody knew how little time they had left until their lives were destroyed. Not even Byakuya, who knew almost everything about his division, knew how close it was to being devastated.

Kaili noticed Byakuya stretching his legs out under his desk, and although she didn't mention anything, she felt quite sorry for the man who she called Captain. He looked uncomfortable. She wondered how long he'd been there, in that exact same spot.

She stood, carrying another stack of paperwork to her captain to review, and feeling slightly guilty as she did so.

"Captain?" she asked gently, holding the stack out towards him. He nodded to her, and accepted it. Just then, in that moment, Kaili lost control of her life. She was aware of a loud noise, and sharp pain in her head, and then everything went black.

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><p><strong>Again, sorry it's so short, and sorry about the cliff hanger... but I couldn't resist. I just couldn't.<strong>

**Things actually happen next chapter. I know I've been saying that, but I actually mean it this time!**

**Reviews are welcome and appreciated. Please review =)**


	5. Explosions, panic and hidden identities

**Sorry about the cliffhanger last chapter... I had to.**

**But anyways, this chapter's up so it's all good =)**

**Thank you to my one reviewer, I really appreciate it! Anybody else reading this, please review! Pretty please with signed Marianas Trench T-shirts on top! (I don't actually have any signed Marianas Trench T-shirts... I wish I did. *sigh* I do have MT T-shirt though, it's just not signed).**

**... I don't own Bleach. If I did, I'd own Byakuya. And if I owned Byakuya... well, you don't actually want to know what I'd do if I owned Byakuya.**

**...**

**...**

**...Right...**

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><p>The first explosion came as a surprise. Kaili went flying across the room, where she hit the wall, and then crumpled to the floor where she lay motionless. Byakuya fell out of his desk, and if the heavy thud from behind him was any indication, so did Renji. The next explosion was expected, but still painful. By the fifth, being tossed around on the ground was getting old, and Byakuya was about done with it. He scrambled to his feet, wincing slightly as his battered body protested. Renji followed suit, gently lifting Kaili off of the ground. He and Byakuya shared a look. They both knew what they had to do.<p>

Wordlessly, Byakuya sprinted out into the hallway. Not many people were in this hallway, but that was to be expected. At this time of day, most of them would be closer to the doors. _By now,_ he thought, stumbling as the ground under his feet shook again, _they'll all be evacuating._ And then he would meet them at TG2- the second set of training grounds for the sixth division. Byakuya bent down and scooped up an unconscious young man, carefully slinging him over his shoulder.

The sixth division was the only division in the Seireitei that was actually prepared for a catastrophe such as this. Byakuya had made certain to drill it into the squad members what exactly to do if something happened in the building. The basic plan was, run like hell, grab anybody who can't walk, and meet me at TG2, except expressed in a nicer fashion, since Byakuya had to speak like a noble. They all knew what to do, and the best part was that they were actually doing it! If the situation weren't so bad, Byakuya would have been pleased. He would have to remember to praise them later. After he got out.

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><p>Renji ran down the halls, picking up anybody who couldn't walk- surprisingly few, since he was furthest from the exits and everybody before him had grabbed anybody unconscious or unable to run. Kaili stirred a little in his arms, but didn't wake. She was bleeding, but not badly and Renji knew that she would be okay.<p>

He reached TG2 after everybody else, suddenly unsure of what to do next. He carefully set Kaili and some other woman- Renji couldn't quite recall her name at the moment, down with all the other injured. Byakuya wasn't there yet, and Renji felt worry set in, before scoffing at himself for being silly. There was no way that Captain Kuchiki would be killed by something like this! He was probably just making sure that everybody had gotten out of the building. There was no need to worry… right?

It turned out that there wasn't. Byakuya appeared beside him within seconds of Renji debating with himself whether or not to be worried. He laid the three people that he was carrying- two men and a woman, with the other injured and turned to Renji.

"Organize them," he told him quickly.

"What? How?" Renji sputtered. "And where are you…" he stopped when he realized that his captain was once again gone. "Going." He finished sourly, scowling. Trust Captain Kuchiki to just disappear when he needed him. "Now what?" Renji asked the world in general. A tiny hand tugged at his sleeve. Renji looked down.

"I think now you ought to calm them down," Kaili informed him matter-of-factly. "And by the time that you do that, Captain Kuchiki will probably be back."

"Back from where?" Renji grumbled. It was a rhetorical question, and he hadn't really expected an answer, but Kaili gave him one anyways.

"He's probably gone to see whether Head-Captain Yamamoto's alright." She told him. "He suspects an attack on the Head-Captain's life." Renji froze. An attack on Old Man Yama's life? How did Kaili figure this stuff out?

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><p>Kaili had been right. Byakuya was heading for the first division, as fast as possible. Another explosion shook the ground, but since Byakuya was using shunpo, it didn't affect him. Byakuya darted quickly past the panicked first division, and into the barracks. Like he had been afraid of, Yamamoto was unconscious. So was his Vice captain, Sasakibe. Byakuya threw both over his shoulder, and shunpoed out of the barracks. The ground heaved underneath of his feet, and he barely managed to get out of the barracks before the grand building tumbled to the ground. Byakuya gently set both Sasakibe and Yamamoto on the ground, and grabbed the first seated officer that he could find. After quickly giving the terrified woman hurried instructions, he returned to TG2, where Renji was ineffectually trying to get the people to listen to him.<p>

"Captain!" Renji exclaimed. "Where-" but Byakuya cut him off.

"That doesn't matter right now," he informed his Vice Captain, absentmindedly unwinding his scarf from around his neck and dropping it in a pile on the ground. The captain's haori soon landed on top of it, followed by Byakuya's glovey things. **(Forget the name of them. Anybody know?)** Tugging the kenseikan from his hair took a little more work. Byakuya untangled one set, and glared at the things in his hand. He hated the kenseikan. They were uncomfortable and hard to put in and take out. But the worst part was they forced him to wear his hair down, and in his eyes. It was unpractical, stupid, and very annoying. He dropped the first set of kenseikan on the pile of things that he considered 'unneeded'. The second set soon joined them. Byakuya carefully tied his hair up in a high ponytail- the way it had been in his youth, with a hair band that he kept around his wrist for just this purpose. The strands of hair that hung in front of his face weren't quite long enough to be pulled back in the ponytail, so he pushed them back as best as he could and turned towards his division.

Alright. Now he was ready to organize his division.

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><p><strong>Kinda cliffhangerish, but not really. I'll probably be uploading the next chapter today anyways so it doesn't <em>really<em> matter...**

**Comments, questions, concerns? Review =) Please. You won't _actually_ get a MT shirt, but you'll make me happy! Don't you want to make me happy?**

**- Stormy out. **

**... It sounds better when Tobuscus says it... Dammit.**


	6. Healing, rescue and postponed shock

**Right. The next chapter. I know that Renji didn't get a lot of love last chapter, but he gets way more this chapter. Because we all love Renji! I've even got a Renji shirt =)**

**BleachFan1- I can't reply to your review so I'm doing it here. Thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying it!  
>Yes, there is *smirks* but no lemon<br>T-teen I think. It means that there is suggestive content, swears and stuff.  
>I don't know actually... This one started with Kaili and then it was just sorta there...<strong>

**Anyways, if I owned Bleach I wouldn't be writing crappy fanfics with the characters.**

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><p>Renji stared at his captain for a moment before snapping back to attention. Now was <em>not<em> the time for thoughts on how friggin' hot his captain looked with his hair tied back like that, even if he did look very, very smexy.

"Abarai," Byakuya's voice was commanding, yet gentle at the same time.

"Yes sir?"

"Is anyone missing?"

"Four people," Renji told him automatically. Although he hadn't managed do it in a particularly calm or orderly fashion- the people of the division weren't calm enough for anything like that to have worked, he had managed to do a roll call of sorts. It worked. Renji listed the names of the missing for his captain, who nodded.

"Do you want me to make a relief squad, Captain?" Renji asked.

"Yes." Byakuya said, and turned back to the panicked people of the sixth division. Renji didn't wait around. He gathered all of the seated officers who were mainly uninjured- half of whom knew how to do basic healing kido- and they left in a blur.

The barracks were in ruin. Renji was shocked at the destruction of what had been his workplace for years, but he didn't allow it to slow him down. Quickly he shouted out orders to the group of seated officers, who obeyed, moving like robots.

The first person was found by Renji. She was a small woman named Rima, and she was barely holding on to life. Her legs were crushed under part of the roof which had collapsed, and she was delirious. Without the help of the fourth division, she probably wouldn't live until nightfall. Renji was fairly certain that fourth division had problems of their own, and wouldn't be able to help.

The rescue efforts continued, although shock was beginning to set in upon seeing for themselves the ultimate destruction of a place that they had called home, work, or both.

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><p>By the time that Renji got back, Byakuya had organized the squad into groups. Mainly; those who could use healing kido and those who couldn't and those who were badly injured and those who weren't. There was a healing shield (<strong>do these things even exist?<strong>) in place over the more seriously injured, something that Byakuya himself had done.

"Captain?" Renji asked softly. He sounded as though he were in shock, which was to be expected. Byakuya was in shock too- although there was no time for him to go to pieces. Renji obviously knew this too, because he was holding himself together very well. "The barracks are completely destroyed. Three of the four missing are dead, and the fourth won't live much longer." Byakuya nodded, resisting a very old habit of fiddling with his bangs when he got nervous. He had found another three dead, and several who would follow soon if they didn't get better medical attention quickly.

Better medical attention quickly was most likely an impossible dream. Fourth division had been destroyed as well- the whole Seireitei had been destroyed! The only medical attention available at the moment was what his squad could manage. So they would have to make do.

"Abarai," he said quickly, turning to face his Vice Captain. "You know basic first aid." Not a question.

"Yes sir." Renji nodded quickly. "But I can't do healing kido."

"I know that." Something reminiscent of a smile crossed Byakuya's face briefly, but it was gone so quickly that one could question whether it had ever really been there. "Don't try."

"You want me to organize the uninjured and start helping the less-injured." Also not a question. Renji knew his captain well enough by now to know what he wanted. Byakuya nodded. He knew his Vice Captain well enough not to doubt his abilities.

"Yes Abarai." The smaller man turned away, walking towards the more seriously hurt. He had lives that needed saving, and he'd be damned if he'd let them die. Even if he wasn't at the skill level of Unohana, he wasn't letting any of the surviving go without a fight. And everybody knew that Captain Kuchiki of the Sixth Division was very good at fighting.

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><p>Renji glanced over at his captain from where he stood with Kaili, and several other squad members. The smaller man was clearly focused on some sort of hocus-pocus that he didn't understand, but Renji didn't mind. He had his weaknesses yes, but he had his strengths as well, and he could use them.<p>

The injuries had been minimal- the squad was well prepared for a disaster, although nobody had ever thought that something of this scale could befall the Seireitei. _What happened?_ Renji wondered. _Was it really an attack on Captain Yamamoto's life? But if it were an attack on the Seireitei, then why are we still alive? If it wasn't an attack on the Seireitei though, what was it? Some sort of earthquake?_ It hadn't seemed like an earthquake. There had been a definite explosion somewhere, yet muted, as though it were underground. _What happened?_ Renji thought again, before pushing away the thoughts. At this point, wondering would get him nowhere. Right now he had to make sure that nothing else happened to the squad.

Since Captain Kuchiki was very obviously busy at the moment, Renji took control. He knew what had to be done. And he would do it, no matter how confused he was about recent events. The people under his command were his first priority. With one final glance over at his captain, Byakuya turned to his squad and began shouting out orders.

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><p><strong>So... It's a bit shorter than usual but I couldn't think of anything else. And I wrote this at one in the morning, so I apologize for any grammar mistakes. But I couldn't sleep, so I figured I'd do something 'useful'. Because this is really useful.<strong>

**But anyways, thankee to reviewers, readers, favoriters etc. Please review and tell me what you think! Be truthful please, because I'm always trying to make this better. =)**

**-Stormy**


	7. Tears, cuddles, and random conversations

**I'm back! It's a bit later than usual but I got distracted... and _no_ it wasn't sparkly. Well, maybe a little... just a bit... Who am I kidding, it was very sparkly, and if you turned it it glittered and... Yeah.**

**But anyways, I have just found a slightly confusing typo in the last chapter. Where it says 'With one final glance over at his captain, Byakuya turned to his squad and began shouting out orders.' It should _actually_ 'With one final glance over at his captain, _Renji_ turned to his squad and began shouting out orders.' Sorry. Thanks to Abby-Flourite for pointing that out =)**

**OOC Byakuya in this chapter, but then he's been OOC all along so I can't see how it will come as a surprise. He'll probably be relatively OOC for the rest of the story. Sorry, but if he's not nothing will happen...**

**I don't own Bleach. If I did there'd be a whole bunch more sparkles. I like sparkles =) I'm like Yumichika that way XD (I just recently figured out what XD means! I'm so proud of myself)**

**Anywho, thankee to reviewers! On with the story.**

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><p>By the time that dark fell, the injured had been cared for as best as possible, and blankets, extra food, etc had been retrieved from the shed at one end of the training yard. Byakuya and Renji had had a small argument when the supplies had been put there. Renji had called it being paranoid. Byakuya had called it being prepared. Now, Renji thought, watching the members of the squad settle down, it seemed that Byakuya had been right. Again.<p>

They had tried to find the rest of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, which was difficult, since even the rest of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads didn't know where they were. In the end they had decided to look after the rest of the Seireitei in the morning. Now people were milling around, comforting each other and talking in low voices. Renji sat with the group of guys that he often played kickball with. None of them were really speaking, but that was okay. Nobody really wanted to talk.

Renji looked over at Byakuya again. He was standing by himself a distance away, quietly doing nothing. Renji was getting very strong 'stay away' vibes at the moment, and decided against trying to speak to his captain. The small man looked near to his breaking point, as though he might go Bankai on anybody who interrupted him now. Either that or burst into tears, but for some odd reason, Renji was leaning towards the first option. He turned back towards his friends, deciding that he'd talk to his captain later. When he didn't look about ready to murder somebody.

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><p>Byakuya watched his squad silently, in a sort daze. His whole body ached, as though he had been hit by one of those World of the Living mechanisms. The ones on wheels that moved around without anything pulling them. He knew that he had known what they were called, but now he couldn't remember. Using a healing kido that complex without really having the ability to probably hadn't been the best idea. But he couldn't have just let them die without trying to save them. He had managed to save two, but four more had died despite his efforts.<p>

Small arms wrapped around his waist, jolting him out of his disconnected thoughts. He glanced down to see Kaili bury her face in the cloth of his robes. Byakuya knelt down slowly, and the small girl sobbed softly into his shoulder.

"I wanna go home," she whispered, her voice slightly muffled.

"You can't," he told her gently. He wasn't quite certain what you were supposed to do when a small child began crying on your shoulder after their home had been destroyed, but he had a feeling that just standing there wasn't going to help much. Awkwardly, he tried rubbing her back, which seemed to help a bit, despite how uncomfortable it made him feel. He'd never had to deal with children before, although he was beginning to wish that he had. Weren't you supposed to reassure them somehow? And… oh damn it all. He'd just have to wing it. "It'll be alright," he assured her quietly.

"Will it?" she asked.

"Yes, it will." He said with more conviction than he actually felt. The small girl climbed into his lap, and curled up against his body, nestling her head against his neck. Feeling extremely uncomfortable he slung an arm across her back in a way that he hoped was comforting.

"What're we gonna do now?" she asked, clinging to his sleeve like it was the only thing keeping her alive.

"Now?" Byakuya asked. Kaili nodded. "Now we're going to sleep."

"And then?" Kaili asked. "Will we wake up and it'll all be a dream?"

"I sure hope so," Byakuya murmured, briefly resting his cheek on the girl's head. Kaili was silent after that, and after a while Byakuya realized that she was asleep. He carefully lay her down on the grass and pulled a blanket over her sleeping figure. Then he turned and walked away, leaving Kaili to her dreams.

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><p>Everybody had been watching Byakuya and Kaili's hushed conversation through the corners of their eyes. Seemingly, the sight of Byakuya being gentle and considerate to a child had come as a bigger shock than the recent explosion. Renji was beginning to see flickers of emotion through his other interactions with the stoic man, and was beginning to wonder why he hadn't noticed them before. Was a small child really more perceptive than he was? It seemed so.<p>

Byakuya seemed a lot calmer now, so Renji risked being sliced into a million tiny pieces by just as many shiny little blades and sat beside him.

"You're good with kids," he informed the smaller man quietly.

"Really?" Byakuya sounded slightly amused. Renji nodded. "Hm." Renji had heard that little contained laugh before. He glanced over at his captain, and sure enough a little smirk played with the corners of his mouth. Although he had no clue what Byakuya found so amusing, he knew better than to ask. It would just make the small smile disappear all the faster, and get him an icy look.

The two men were silent for a bit, and after a while Renji was beginning to wonder whether Byakuya had fallen asleep. A glance to the side told him that his captain hadn't, unless it was with his eyes shut and perfect posture, which seemed impossible. Instead, Byakuya was staring off into the distance, head tilted slightly to the side.

Renji shifted uncomfortably, wondering if he should disturb the captain, or just get up and walk away.

"Do you need something Abarai?" Byakuya asked, not moving. Renji started, surprised.

"Uh… yeah actually…" he squirmed again. "Do you think I'd make a good captain?" He'd wanted to ask for some time now, but Byakuya had always seemed so unapproachable. Now though the smaller man seemed more open. Maybe he'd always been that way, but Renji just hadn't noticed it. Byakuya was silent for a moment, and Renji could see him quietly checking off requirements. He frowned slightly, and looked over at Renji.

"Can you sleep standing up with your eyes open?" he asked. Renji stared at him, mouth slightly open.

"Huh?"

"Can you?"

"No…"

"You might want to work on that."

"Why, is it an important skill?"

"More important than Bankai."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Captain Zaraki doesn't have Bankai and he gets by. The last person who couldn't sleep standing up with his eyes open went insane."

"You're joking." Renji said flatly.

"I'm not."

"So you use it often then?"

"Every Captain's meeting," Byakuya confirmed. Renji stared at him again. "Honestly Abarai. Did you really think that _anybody_ could stay awake through that without going insane?" Renji didn't answer, he was still in shock. Byakuya shook his head, and that faint smile was back on his lips. It suited him, Renji thought distantly. "If you've ever had to sit through one of Head Captain Yamamoto's speeches you'd understand," Byakuya promised.

Byakuya fell silent again, and after a while Renji stood up and walked away. Soon after that he returned with a blanket, only to find the smaller man curled up on the ground, sound asleep. Renji gently draped the blanket over his captain, and stood back, watching him. He looked so peaceful asleep, as though all of the worries that plagued him during his waking hours had simply fallen away. He had let his hair out of its ponytail, and a few strands fell over his face. A tiny smirk tugged the corners of his mouth up, and Renji wondered distantly what he was dreaming about. Something happy he hoped, although almost anything could be better than the situation that they were in.

"Goodnight," he murmured. The sleeping man at his feet didn't stir. "Byakuya," Renji added softly, loving the way the name rolled off of his tongue. He turned and crept away, searching for a blanket of his own.

Behind him steel gray eyes flickered open. "Goodnight Renji," Byakuya replied in a whisper, before closing his eyes again, and going to sleep.

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><p><strong>Review please? What's good, what's bad, what's inaccurate, what could use improving, any grammarspelling mistakes etc.**

**-Stormy**


	8. Awakening, grief, and secret worries

**It's chapter eight and it still hasn't crashed and burned! This might actually work out!**

**Anyways, I'm starting to run out of good ideas for the titles of the chapters so they're just getting lamer and lamer... sorry.**

**I don't own Bleach. Never will. I _do_ however, own a really kickass bleach T-shirt. But other than that, I don't own Bleach.**

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><p>"Ngh…" Byakuya groaned softly, waking up. Something tickled his face, and he pushed it away, only to have more come back. Slowly he opened eyes, and was confronted with a field of blurry green strands. He blinked and the image by his face came into focus. Grass. Why was he asleep on the ground? Memories of the past day scurried back into his mind, and he groaned again. So it hadn't been a dream. Dammit.<p>

Carefully, he pushed his aching body into a sitting position, a blanket falling off of his shoulders as he did so. Blanket? Where… Renji. Right. It had been sweet of him, Byakuya thought, tugging the blanket back around his arms, shivering a bit. The sun was just barely peaking over the horizon and it was chilly out.

Nobody else was awake, and Byakuya took a moment to enjoy the peace of the morning, before he stood up, keeping the blanket draped around his shoulders. His footsteps were silent as he walked barefoot over the emerald grass- his shoes had been left on the pile of 'annoying things that I don't need at the moment'.

He knelt beside Alicia, one of the seriously injured he'd managed to save. She was lying in the same position that he had left her, meaning that she hadn't woken yet. Bad. He held up a hand and watched as blue energy slowly coated it. He held that hand over her body, and watched as the blue glow covered her. She shifted a bit and groaned softly. Better. The energy soaked into her skin and her eyelids flickered open. Good.

"C-captain?" she tried, her voice barely a whisper. Byakuya held back a grin of triumph. Best.

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><p>When Alicia opened her eyes, she found them meet a cool, gray gaze. She gulped. "C-captain?" She knew that she should probably do something. Standing would be good. Yes, standing would be very good. And… something else. A bow maybe? She tried to sit up, only to be held back by a surprisingly gentle hand. "What-" It was hard to speak, and the rest of the sentence wouldn't come. This was awful. He'd probably think that she was an idiot now, and kick her out of the squad. To her immense shock, her captain smiled slightly. It was just the tiniest lift of the lips, but he was smiling! She hadn't even thought it possible before then. Impossibly, he looked even better than usual, with his hair hanging loosely in his face, and his scarf somewhere else, and a tiny smile playing with the corners of his mouth. Alicia had never had a crush on the captain like many of the other women in the division, but she felt as though it were quite possibly that she was falling in love with him now. Of course, she didn't stand a chance with him. Nobody did.<p>

"Go back to sleep now Alicia," he murmured. "You'll find out what happened later." His voice was comforting, and Alicia wondered distantly how he knew her name. She was just a lowly unseated officer, after all. She was relatively certain that she had never spoken to Captain Kuchiki, and had only seen him closely once; when she was just a new recruit.

Her eyelids felt heavy, and the last thing that she saw before she fell asleep was those enchanting gray eyes. Then everything was black.

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><p>Byakuya leaned away from the young woman, a frown replacing the smile. The other person who his healing kido had worked on the day before was a young man. He didn't look good now though. Byakuya scowled at the grass beneath his feet as he walked over to the man. His name was Marco, and he was tenth seat. He'd had a little sister who had died in battle a few weeks before. Byakuya crouched beside him, but when he placed a hand on the man's shoulder, his arm was grabbed by the man.<p>

"Don't bother," Marco hissed, sitting up a bit until his face was very close to Byakuya's. Byakuya gently pushed him back down. "I'm going to die anyways. I want to die. She's dead." His grip was surprisingly strong for a dying man. "I promised I'd protect her." He laughed softly. "Some big brother I am, huh?" Byakuya remained silent, watching him. "I didn't protect her. I let her die."

"There was nothing you could do," Byakuya told him, his voice gentle. Almost… caring. "You weren't there. You didn't know that she'd been sent out until after. There was nothing that you could've done to save her."

"I should've saved her. I'm her big brother. I should've…" his voice trailed off, and he continued in a whisper. "You've saved your little sister every time that she's gotten into trouble. Every single time you've been there for her. But me… once she needed me. Just once. And I wasn't there. I deserve to die."

"You're wrong. She wouldn't want you to die. She would've wanted you to live and see all the things that she couldn't."

"I deserve to die," his grip was loosening now, and Byakuya lifted his free hand and covered the hand attached to his sleeve. "Captain," he murmured, seeming to come to his surroundings now. "Tenth seat… make Toga? Please…"

"I will." Byakuya told the other man. He knew when somebody had completely given up on life, and knew that no matter how hard he tried he couldn't force Marco to live. Marco smiled, seemingly seeing something else again.

"Suki," he murmured. "I'm sorry…" His body went limp, and Byakuya gently removed the other man's hand from his sleeve and stood up, turning away. He had lost another one.

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><p>Renji woke up when somebody shook him gently. "Abarai. Time to get up."<p>

"Huh," he murmured, slipping back asleep.

"Wake up."

"Wha- Captain? How…" he paused, memories flitting at the edge of his tired mind. "Oh." He muttered as it hit him.

"Indeed. Are you going to get up now?"

"… Yes Captain." Renji sat up slowly, and the world spun at the edges of his vision. He could really use a few more hours of sleep. He stumbled to his feet, and nearly fell before a slender hand caught his arm, keeping him on his feet. Blushing a bit, Renji pulled away from his captain. Yes, more sleep would be nice. But he could tell from the stern expression on Byakuya's face that that was probably not going to happen. The smaller man began to walk away, and Renji followed him, walking quickly to keep up. How was it that he had to struggle to keep up with his captain when Byakuya was smaller than him? It completely defied all known laws!

Renji glanced up at the sky, noting with a suppressed groan that the sun wasn't even fully up yet. Byakuya turned around, walking backwards and watching Renji.

"Come on," he said impatiently. "Hurry up."

"Yes Captain," Renji muttered sourly. "I could really hate you right now," he added, in a much quieter tone. To his immense shock, Byakuya heard him.

"Couldn't you just?" he asked with something that, on him, was equivalent to a mischievous grin on anybody else. "You should've thought of that before you accepted the position." Renji blushed again, but Byakuya wasn't looking at him anymore, and didn't seem to notice. "But since you did accept the position," Byakuya continued, the grin fading. "You'll have to deal with it." Renji stared at him, mouth slightly open. "If it makes you feel any better I'm going to wake everybody else up too." He looked at Renji a second time, and his face was fully serious again. Renji gulped. The captain's sudden mood changes were beginning to scare him a bit. "And you are going to go looking for all of the other Captains, or, if you can't find them, Vice Captains and give them these," Byakuya handed him a stack of twelve small sheets of paper.

"Understood Captain," Renji said, rubbing his neck. Somehow, the quick pace of the conversation was making his neck ache.

"Good." Byakuya stopped, and suddenly Renji found himself subject to a sharp, scrutinizing stare. "Don't take any longer than is absolutely necessary. And _don't_, under any circumstances, do anything stupid."

"Worried Captain?" Renji asked, teasing gently.

"No. You can take care of yourself." Byakuya began walking away, and Renji barely heard him murmur under his breath, "Of course I am. Idiot." But the way he said it was almost endearing. Renji looked down at the stack of papers in his hand, and then looked back at his captain again. Who is he really? Renji wondered. And does he actually care about me?

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><p>Byakuya tied his hair back up and stared at the remainders of his squad, still peacefully asleep. But not for long, he thought, walking over to where Kaili was still asleep. Soon they would be confronted with the bitter truth. It hadn't been a dream. None of it had been a dream. "I'm sorry," he murmured, kneeling down beside Kaili. "I'm sorry that I can't make it all go back to the way it should be."<p>

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><p><strong>... Crap ending. But I can't think of anything else so... We'll go with it.<strong>

**Reviews are welcome, and greatly apprecitated! =3**

**-Stormy**


	9. Gathering, duties, and OOC behavior

**Slightly OOC Hitsugaya and Unohana in this chapter, but I tried not to make them too OOC.**

**If I make any Mary-sue/Gary-sue characters would somebody please, please, please tell me? Because I really don't want that added to my conscience.**

**Anyways, I definitely do not own Bleach. It is not mine. I just like to play with the characters in my spare time.**

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><p>Unohana was the first captain that Renji found after leaving TG2. She looked slightly surprised to see him, and also a little pleased. Renji handed her the note, and she took it, read it, and then nodded.<p>

"Your captain is a very organized man," she murmured, addressing Renji. Renji nodded. He didn't need to be told that.

"Um, Captain Unohana?" he asked, wondering whether or not hanging around was actually a good idea. Sometimes Unohana scared him more than Captain Kuchiki, although this didn't seem to be one of those times. There was something about the way she smiled…

"Yes Abarai-kun?" she asked pleasantly. And that tone of voice! That scared him too, although he wasn't quite certain why. It was calm and gentle, not frightening, and yet…

"I'm worried," he shifted a bit, already regretting his decision. Having Captain Unohana direct her full attention onto him was a very uncomfortable feeling indeed. "About Captain Kuchiki. He's acting…" Renji thought of his captain's swiftly changing mood. "Odd." That was an understatement, but Unohana seemed to understand him. That was one good thing about Unohana. She always understood you.

"Odd. As in his personality." Renji nodded. "It's just stress, and shock," Unohana told him, her voice kind, and it was a genuine kindness. She wasn't as scary when she wasn't angry, Renji noticed. "It makes it harder for him to hide behind his mask. He'll be back to normal soon enough."

"I'm not sure if I really want him to be back to normal," Renji confessed quietly.

"Maybe," Unohana gave him a hard look, "you should tell him that." Swiftly she changed topics, leaving Renji breathless. "What about the casualties." When Renji gave her the list of casualties she stared at him. "How in the world did you manage that?" she actually sounded shocked.

"It was mostly the captain actually," Renji said, blushing. "Maybe you should ask him. My head's still spinning."

"I'm sure that you contributed more than you think," she told him. Renji blushed a little deeper, but just shrugged.

"See ya Captain Unohana," he told her. She smiled serenely at him.

"Yes. Good bye Abarai-kun." He started to walk away, before she halted him with a call. "Don't bother trying to hunt down Captain Yamamoto or Vice Captain Sasakibe. I'll take care of their squad."

"Thank you." Renji told her, before taking off again, tracking down the other captain's reiatsus.

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><p>Byakuya had woken all of his division up, and was now beginning to seriously regret it. They could be whiny this early in the morning. He also regretted sending Renji out to find all of the captains, but he didn't have any hell butterflies, and this was the best he could do. Pinching the bridge of his nose to try to ward off a coming migraine, he addressed his division, his voice slightly harsher than normal. Was it just him or was the early dawn light brighter than usual? Maybe it was just him. After all, nobody else looked as though they felt like their skulls were being hammered open.<p>

As he got them moving, Byakuya took a moment to ignore their faults, and admire the strengths of the sixth squad. After all, he was reasonably certain that they could be a whole lot harder to handle. They even listened to him when he spoke, something that Byakuya Kuchiki hadn't been used to until he had actually reached Captain's status.

Urging them forwards under the unusually harsh dawn light, Byakuya felt a rush of pride for the men and women under his command. It was because of them that the Sixth Division was considered a role model squad. They made all the difference.

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><p>By the time that night fell again, all of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads had been gathered in the same place. Tents had been set up, first aid centers quickly constructed, casualties and missing listed, and kitchens built. The Seireitei was organized again, although the members were still in shock. Renji found himself on kitchen duty with Shuhei, Izuru, Momo, Rangiku, and several other people that he didn't know. Him and Rangiku had been forbidden from touching the food, and were stuck washing dishes, and under very strict supervision, sometimes allowed to chop vegetables.<p>

"We're lucky all this had been put into storage," Rangiku commented, waving her hands at the food in the kitchen.

"Yeah. We'd be in a whole bunch more trouble if it hadn't been," Shuhei agreed.

"We're _already_ in trouble," Izuru muttered. He still acted depressed, and it was nearly impossible to get him to cheer up.

"Well, yes," Renji conceded, frowning at his friend, "but it could be a whole bunch worse."

"I suppose," Izuru agreed sceptically.

"Chop those, would you Renji?" Shuhei asked, pointing at a stack of onions.

"Sure," Renji agreed, gratefully handing the rag that he had been using to scrub out a pot to Rangiku and picking up a knife instead. He felt far more comfortable with blades than dishcloths.

"I wonder how Head Captain Yamamoto's doing," Momo murmured. "Last I heard, he might be dying."

"He's not going to die," Rangiku assured her.

"Yeah," Shuhei agreed. "The old man's too tough to die."

"But even so, all of the Captains are worried." Momo added. "They were arguing about a possible successor before." She glanced over at Renji. "Captain Kuchiki didn't seem too happy."

"Captain Kuchiki's never happy," Rangiku said.

"I dunno," Renji said sceptically. "I saw him smile. Three times in the past twenty-four hours."

"What? He actually… That's…" All four of them were staring at him.

"You're kidding, right?" Shuhei asked faintly. Renji shook his head.

"Nope."

"Wow…" Izuru breathed.

"That right there signals the apocalypse," Rangiku muttered, shaking her head. Renji shrugged.

"Wasn't Captain Hitsugaya pretty pissed too?" He asked as a way of changing the subject. Momo nodded.

"I wonder what happened?" she said quietly.

"Huh…" Rangiku shrugged. "I suppose we'll find out soon enough." And with that all five of them returned to silence, each wrapped up in their own individual thoughts.

* * *

><p>Both Byakuya and Toshiro were beyond pissed. Most of the other captain's had taken an involuntary step away from the two when Yamamoto had weakly told them who he wanted to be Head Captain if he died. His choice? Byakuya, and if he fell, Hitsugaya. After some yelling (mostly Toshiro) and a few icy protestations (mainly Byakuya) the two were gloomily surveying the ruined remains of the Seireitei.<p>

"Why me?" Toshiro muttered, angrily kicking at the ground. "I don't want to be Head Captain!"

"And you think I want it any more than you do?" Byakuya asked, barely keeping himself from following Toshiro's example and venting some of his annoyance on the ground.

"It probably won't happen anyways," Toshiro said, trying to reassure both himself and the man standing next to him. "After all, the Head Captain is a tough old man." Byakuya nodded slowly. "And," Toshiro continued, "he can be really stubborn when he wants to."

"He can," Byakuya agreed. And just like that, Byakuya had found an ally in the chaos that had become of his life.

* * *

><p><strong>... Well, hope you like. Reviews are welcome and very much appreciated.<strong>

**-Stormy**

_**I haven't lost my mind yet... I just temporarily misplaced it.**_


	10. Stories, casualties and concealed pain

**Chapter Ten! Yay!**

**Anyways, thankee to reviewers! I really appreciate it.**

**Do I own Bleach? No. Do I wish I did? Yes.**

* * *

><p>Renji found his captain sitting quietly far away from the noise of their makeshift encampment. The smaller man was rubbing his left wrist almost absent-mindedly, as though he didn't quite realize that he was doing it. He glanced over as Renji made his way carefully over the rubble to sit beside him. To Renji's discomfort, Byakuya's gray eyes were emotionless again- he'd managed to get a firm grip on his mask. Renji felt his heart sink. There was no use talking to him about anything now. He wouldn't be able to tell if anything he said made any difference.<p>

"Nice out, isn't it?" Renji said, futilely trying to start a conversation. He'd felt much more comfortable with Byakuya when he had some idea of what was going on behind that intense gaze. Byakuya nodded once to answer his question, but didn't add anything, leaving Renji adrift. He was still rubbing his wrist, and Renji wondered whether he was hurt. Surely if he were he would have taken care of it by now. Maybe it was just an old habit. After all, Byakuya was human, and Renji knew how hard it was to get rid of old habits. But he had to wonder where exactly he had gotten the habit from.

* * *

><p>Byakuya stared out into the distance, barely noticing Renji's presence. He felt numb, and slightly distanced from himself, which was normal, although he didn't like it. His entire soul seemed to ache, and for a moment he considered collapsing into tears. But then he remembered who he was, and what he stood for, and continued to stare silently out at the stars, emptiness filling him.<p>

He was cold, but that was nothing new. He was always cold, both in spirit and in body. _Just get used to it,_ he told himself. _This is what you are. Nothing's going to change it. It's been over a hundred years now; get over the stupid dreams of being yourself. You can't __**ever**__ be yourself. So quit dreaming about it._ That tiny bit of him sounded just like his parents, lecturing him again, for acting in a way not befitting the status of a Kuchiki. _I don't care anymore,_ he felt like screaming at them. _I really couldn't care less!_ But they were long dead and buried now, and he had made them a promise, and Byakuya Kuchiki always kept his promises. Always. Even if keeping them left his soul broken into a thousand irreparable pieces.

"Captain?" Renji asked, and Byakuya came back to his surroundings. "Are you alright?" Byakuya stood up briskly, and turned away so as not to show Renji another piece of his soul breaking off as he spoke.

"Of course." He walked away over the uneven ground, still absentmindedly rubbing his left wrist. He could feel Renji's disbelieving gaze on his back, and yearned to turn back to face him, to burst into tears, to speak to him as an equal, to do anything except walk away. But he had to. Because Kuchikis always walked away.

* * *

><p>Renji watched Byakuya walk away, and knew, although Byakuya had turned away and hadn't let him see, that he was breaking into little pieces with every step that he took. He considered going after him for a moment, but something about the way that Byakuya was walking warned him against it. The other man didn't seem to want company at the moment, and even if he had, he would say that he didn't. As much as Renji cared for his captain, he would much rather stay in one piece.<p>

He continued to stare out at the stars until he felt a small body cuddle up against his side. He glanced down at Kaili, who stared back up at him with wide emerald eyes.

"Captain Kuchiki isn't happy," she told him. Renji shook his head.

"No, he's not," he agreed.

"Maybe you should talk to him," Kaili suggested.

"I tried," Renji sighed.

"Maybe you should give him a hug," Kaili added. Renji stared down at her.

"He'd kill me!" he protested. "Captain Kuchiki isn't a very huggy person."

"He wouldn't kill you," Kaili wrapped her arms around Renji's neck. "He likes you," she told him. "He really does like you."

"Huh," Renji muttered, disbelieving, although why should he be? Kaili had been right about everything else so far.

"He needs a hug," Kaili repeated. "Really, really badly." She gazed up at him, her thin face intense. "And so do you."

"Maybe I'll give him a hug later," he said to placate the little girl.

"You should," she told him. "It'll solve a lot. Hugs solve almost everything." Renji smiled at the small child's insistence. It would be wonderful if hugs really could solve all the world's problems, but it wasn't true. He'd let her believe it for a while longer anyways. After all, she was only little. She'd learn soon enough. Apparently appeased by Renji's smile, Kaili climbed into his lap, and nestled her face into his shoulder. "Will you tell me a story?" she asked quietly.

"What type of story?" Renji asked.

"A funny story."

"Alright. Did you hear about what Yumichika did to the Eleventh Division barracks?"

"Uh, uh. Tell me!"

Renji grinned, and began to speak.

* * *

><p>Head Captain Yamamoto was listening to Isane list off the casualties, nodding off slightly, but determined to stay alert through all of it. This was helped out when he was told how many injured and dead the Sixth Division had suffered. It was significantly less than the average of the rest of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads- by about thirty.<p>

"What did Captain Kuchiki do that nobody else did?" he demanded.

"I don't know sir," Isane replied quietly. "You'll have to ask Captain Kuchiki." She sighed. "And he's rather antisocial at the moment, so I don't think that's the best idea." Yamamoto waved her explanation away, determined to stay focused on something despite the muddled feeling pain and medication was giving his mind.

"He's always antisocial. Send him in."

"More antisocial than usual I meant," Isane murmured. "He doesn't look so great either."

"Is he awake and alert?" Yamamoto asked.

"Yes sir."

"Then send him in."

Isane sighed. "Yes sir," and left the tent in search of Captain Kuchiki. She found him staring moodily out at the tents, rubbing his left wrist. She took notice of this before she noticed the murderous 'leave me alone' look in his eyes. "Is your arm alright Captain Kuchiki?" she asked. Byakuya looked up at her.

"Yes." His voice was cold, but Isane had dealt with him before. The best solution was to treat him like normal, but be ready to run at any moment.

"Head Captain Yamamoto wishes to speak to you," she informed him shyly. Normal for Isane was as quiet as possible. Byakuya nodded, and strode over to the tent. Isane followed him back, and watched him disappear inside, her head tilted to the side. The Captain was still rubbing his left wrist as though it pained him.

"Is something the matter Isane?" Unohana asked gently from behind her. Isane turned.

"Maybe," she said softly. "Captain Kuchiki keeps rubbing his wrist, but he says that he isn't injured."

"Old habits die hard," Unohana replied. "I hope that's all it is. I'll ask him about it later. He'll talk to me if I approach him right." She sighed. "He's so difficult to handle."

"I hope he's alright," Isane murmured. "I like Captain Kuchiki. He's kind, in an odd way. And he's a very good patient, once you've figured out what's wrong with him. He doesn't bother anybody."

"Yes. He's a good man." Unohana stared over at the folds of the tent. "Come Isane. We have things to do."

"Yes Captain." Isane followed Unohana back to the other tents, and to the other patients who needed their help.

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews are appreciated =) I hope I stayed IC for the other characters, but I'm not sure... Comments?<strong>

**-Stormy**


	11. Nightmares, promises and latenight walks

**This is a bit longer than usual, but meh...**

**I saw Wicked yesterday, and it was awesome! If you ever get the chance to see it... do. It's amazing. I'm not too into musicals, but Wicked is a masterpiece...**

**Anyways, I've never owned bleach. My parents are very anti-chemical people. I don't own the Bleach anime/manga either. Well... I have some of the books, but I don't _own_ it own it.**

**On with the story...**

* * *

><p>Yamamoto stared at the Captain standing beside his makeshift cot on the floor, eyes lowered towards the ground. Had Byakuya always been this annoying to deal with, or was he not feeling alright? Perhaps he should have listened to Isane when she'd said that 'Captain Kuchiki is rather antisocial at the moment'.<p>

"So you're not certain what you did differently?" Yamamoto asked. Byakuya didn't even bother to look at him.

"I don't know what the other squads did. How can I know what I did differently if I have nothing to compare to?" he replied, sounding slightly more disrespectful than he normally did. Yamamoto held back a groan. Isane had been right; it was impossible talking to Captain Kuchiki just then.

"Alright, that will be all," Yamamoto said, before something caught his gaze. "Are you injured Kuchiki?" he asked, his gaze drawn to the way that Byakuya was rubbing his wrist.

"No."

"You can go then. Thank you." Yamamoto watched Byakuya leave, feeling as though he had missed something important. Something that he as Head Captain, should have seen. But pain and medication was making him drowsy, and just as he thought he might have reached it, he felt it slide away again. Yamamoto leaned back against the pillow behind his back. He'd try to think of it later. After he'd had a nap.

* * *

><p>Byakuya strode out of Yamamoto's tent in a foul mood. If it weren't for his status as a Kuchiki, he would have been scowling. Then again, if it weren't for his status as a Kuchiki, he probably would have been in a better mood. And he definitely wouldn't have been quite so annoyed to be cornered by Unohana by one of the tents.<p>

"Captain Unohana," he greeted her icily, with a small nod. She smiled calmly at him, but there was that false quality to her smile that would've sent even Kenpachi running. Byakuya however had long since become accustomed to that look, and it didn't frighten him.

"Come with me," she told him, and although her voice sounded perfectly cheerful, there was something in it that gave small children (and sometimes older children, and teenagers, and adults) nightmares. There was no disobeying that voice, but Byakuya tried anyways. The last thing that he wanted was Unohana watching him in that way that she had that made one think that she knew all of their secrets. And in Byakuya's case, she probably did.

"Not at the moment," he told her, not bothering to be polite. He felt awful, and just wanted to be away from everybody. "Later." He began to walk away, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Now." She told him. "Either you come willingly, or I knock you out and drag you back," she said, pulling a needle from her sash. Byakuya relented. He didn't have the energy to argue with her.

Unohana led him into one of the main medical tents, which was thankfully empty. "This is my new office," she told him with a smile as sharp as the blade of her zanpaku-to and about twice as dangerous. "Sit." She dropped onto a mat on the ground, and pointed to one across from her. Byakuya sat. Unohana struck without warning, grabbing Byakuya's left arm and pushing the sleeve all the way up. He let her, finding it pointless to resist. All that she found were some old scars up by the inside of his elbow. She dropped that arm and repeated the process with the right. Nothing.

"Good." She said. "I was hoping it was just habit." Byakuya stared at her, his right hand cradling his left wrist again.

"What was habit?" he asked. Unohana rolled her eyes.

"You really don't know you're doing it, do you?" she asked, exasperated. "For a genius, you really can be quite stupid sometimes."

Byakuya frowned at her. "There's no need to insult my intelligence," he protested.

"That." she told him, pointing. Byakuya glanced down at his hands, and then carefully clasped them together.

"I've always wondered though…" Unohana started, watching him warily, as though he were potentially dangerous, which, he supposed he was. "Why the wrist?"

"Sorry?"

"… Never mind. You still have no clue, do you?"

"Can I go now?"

"If you must." Unohana sighed and placed a hand on Byakuya's shoulder as he started to leave. "You know, you don't have to be alone all the time." Byakuya didn't even bother to answer. He just left.

The cool night air felt good on his face, and he walked quickly through the encampment, struggling to keep from breaking down in the middle of the street. He took midnight walks often when he felt as though he might lose control, although there were considerably less people around at those times. He'd just walk until he felt as though he could handle being around other people. And then he'd go to bed.

With a plan, Byakuya's steps took on more purpose. Nobody bothered him as he strode through the tents. After all, he was Captain Kuchiki. Nobody wanted to disturb him and face his wrath.

* * *

><p>Yamamoto had finally figured out what he'd been missing. Byakuya hadn't been wearing his Captain's haori, or his scarf, or the kenseikan. But most importantly the haori. What was the man thinking? He knew how important it was to wear the damn things! He wouldn't have one if he wasn't supposed to wear it!<p>

He'd have to speak to him about it after he'd finally gotten around to that nap he was looking forwards to.

* * *

><p>Renji carried Kaili's sleeping form through the encampment's 'streets', heading for the tent that he was supposed to be sharing with her and the captain. Truth be told, Renji was a bit apprehensive about having to share a tent with his captain. What if he talked in his sleep? Or had a nightmare? Or did something embarrassing? What then? It wasn't even a particularly big tent, no; they'd probably be pretty close together. The only compromise would be to put Kaili in the middle but…<p>

"I wanna edge." Kaili whined sleepily. She was only partly awake, and was adamant about sleeping by the wall of the tent. "I wanna edge!" she repeated obstinately. Renji was indecisive, but a calm voice from behind him solved his dilemma.

"Let her."

"C-captain!" Renji exclaimed, startled. He hadn't heard the older man enter. He lay Kaili down by the wall, like she insisted, and turned to face his captain, stumbling a bit as he did so. The tent wasn't tall enough to allow anybody except maybe Kaili to stand, and so both crouched, watching each other warily. Kaili murmured something contentedly, and pulled the thin blankets up around her chin. Renji glanced over at her, relieved for the excuse to look away from Byakuya's face. He was certain that if he had to keep looking at Byakuya, he was going to do something drastic, and potentially dangerous. Like kiss him. That would most likely end up in fatality, and it wouldn't be Byakuya's corpse bleeding out on the floor of the tent.

Sleeping arrangements after that were made easily. Kaili had grabbed onto Renji's sleeve, and wouldn't let go, which forced Renji to take the middle, and Byakuya slid past him to the edge of the tent. Byakuya didn't sleep however. He just sat and stared at the walls of the tent, silent.

Renji lay down, being careful not to disturb Kaili, and fell asleep almost instantly. It had been a long day, and this time all that he wanted to do was sleep all night, and well into the morning, although he knew that that most likely wouldn't happen. Still, he would salvage as much sleep as he could.

He woke up a few hours later to silence. Kaili had let go of his sleeve, and was curled up against the wall, a small smile on her little face. Renji had to grin just looking at her. Slowly he eased himself up into a sitting position and rested his chin on his knees. He looked down at Byakuya, who was lying on his side hair hanging in his face. Almost as though he were aware of Renji's scrutiny, Byakuya rolled onto his back, frowning. He was trembling, Renji realized. He watched as the man clenched his fists, and turned his head away from whatever was haunting him. Turning his attention back towards the silhouette of a spider on the wall of the tent, Renji waited. He knew what came next. It was something that he himself had done plenty, trying to shake off nightmares. Whether or not Byakuya screamed made little difference. He'd wake himself up one way or another.

Sure enough, there was a sharp intake of breath from beside him, and Byakuya sat up quickly, panting.

* * *

><p>Byakuya jerked himself upright, and out of his dream in the same motion. He sat still for a moment, breathing hard, and trying to figure out where he was exactly. Slowly his surroundings came to him, and he relaxed, only to stiffen again when he heard a voice beside him.<p>

"Bad dream?" Renji wasn't looking at him. Byakuya didn't answer. He didn't have to. "You're very quiet," he heard a smirk in Renji's voice, even though all that he could see of him was a dark silhouette in the shadows. "Most people scream. Or cry. Or whimper. Or _something_." Byakuya shook his head slowly.

"Screaming is… not permitted," he murmured. Renji's rough voice was helping chase away the demons from his dreams, and he began to think that maybe, just maybe, he might be able to fall back to sleep.

"What do you mean, not permitted?" Renji asked. Maybe he knew that he was calming him, or maybe he was just attempting to distract him. Or, quite possibly, he didn't care at all, and was just talking because he wanted to. Somehow Byakuya couldn't see Renji as that type of person.

"Kuchikis must be strong. We can't scream, or cry, or laugh." He leaned forwards, and rested his forehead on his knees.

"So essentially you're not allowed to show any emotion." Byakuya nodded. "That's bullshit."

"Maybe," Byakuya agreed. Renji turned to look at him for the first time since he'd woken up.

"You're actually agreeing with me?"

"Just because I live it doesn't mean I have to like it." Came the stoic reply.

"If you don't like it, why do you follow those rules? They're stupid."

"I made a promise," Byakuya's voice was soft. "I can't break it now."

"You have already," Renji pointed out. Byakuya winced.

"I didn't break it exactly… I just found a loophole."

"It's a stupid promise to keep if it's killing you from the inside," Renji told him.

"I have to keep it."

"You don't want to."

"I have to."

"You're just as stubborn as Kaili."

"Yes."

Renji laughed softly, and then lay back down. Byakuya remained sitting up, and slowly lifted his forehead off of his knees to examine the silhouette of the spider that Renji had been looking at earlier.

"If you want to talk to me, you can," Renji murmured sleepily. Byakuya was silent for a moment, thinking about it.

"I'll remember that," he said finally. But Renji had already fallen back to sleep. "Thank you," Byakuya added quietly. He remained awake for a long time after that, thinking.

* * *

><p><strong>Comments or concerns? Review. Lonely or bored? Review. I'll answer, I promise. I've been having the most entertaining conversation with one of my reviewers on my other story involving Aizen's bitch curl, beating Noitra to death with spoons, going to Hawaii and using Kenpachi as a Bankai because Byakuya, Hitsugaya and Rukia all wanted to kill us. So... Yeah. Maybe you're not crazy and would like to do something useful with your time. Review anyways. It takes like... a minute.<strong>

**-Stormy**

**I swear, I'm _not insane_! I'm just... not sane**


	12. Confusion, breakfast, and VC gatherings

**Well... This is a completely random chapter with absolutely no plot whatsoever. Oh well... I had fun writing it =)**

**Anyways, it's mainly dialogue based, and stays in Renji's POV the _whole time_.**

**I don't own Bleach. If I did there would be a whole bunch more singing and dancing and everybody would have a solo at one time or another. So be thankful that I don't own bleach.**

**Oh yes... Captain Kurotsuchi has a potty mouth this chapter. He's being quite mean!**

* * *

><p>When Renji woke up in the morning, Byakuya had already left. He groaned softly when he realized how early it was. <em>That man,<em> he thought, _must be the earliest riser I have ever met._ Byakuya's makeshift bed had been made, and how he had managed _that_ without disturbing either of his tentmates, Renji had no clue.

Kaili stirred beside him, and then sat up slowly, her hair tangled. She rubbed at her eyes sleepily, and Renji grinned. The small child could make anybody smile, he realized. Maybe even his cold captain. Kaili stared at him incomprehensively for a few seconds, before lying down again, pulling the blanket back over her head, and going back to sleep. Chuckling softly, Renji slid out of the tent and stood up, glancing around.

There were very few people up and about this early. He found Shuhei sitting on what appeared to be a piece of the ninth squad barracks, and sat down beside him. Shuhei muttered a sleepy greeting, and went back to turning a piece of dented metal over in his hands.

"Your captain's acting odd again," Shuhei said, dropping the piece of metal.

"Odd?" Renji asked. "Because if he's smiling, I'm not that worried."

"Not smiling. Not outwardly odd… I can't really explain it. He's just acting… odd. Maybe I'm going crazy."

Renji laughed. "Crazy? You? Never." He frowned. "I wonder what's wrong."

"It's not only him though, don't worry," Shuhei shot him a sideways look. "Captain Hitsugaya and Captain Soi Fon were with him. They were being weird too. Captain Soi Fon looked about ready to murder somebody."

"That's nothing new," Renji grumbled. "Captain Soi Fon _always_ looks as though she'd going to murder someone."

"I wish that were all," Shuhei continued glumly. "Captain Hitsugaya was freezing the ground where he stepped, and I mean, literally freezing it. The ice just barely melted before you got here."

"And Captain Kuchiki?" Renji asked, starting to get worried.

"He was carrying something. I'm not actually sure _what_ it was exactly, but it was big and looked kinda heavy. You know, like that seal for the Sokyoku that Ukitake was carrying around, except not."

"What's going on?"

"I don't know. I tried to ask, but Soi Fon gave me the Look, and Hitsugaya snapped at me to shut up and go away, so I gave up."

"Ugh…"

"Yeah, and then Captain Unohana passed by a few minutes ago, and she _glared_ at me when I asked. She _glared at me_!"

"What! Captain Unohana glared at you?"

"Yes, and I can tell you that it is _definitely_ worse than her scary smile. Way worse. Oh, good morning Captain Kyoraku!"

"Good morning Captain!" Renji said a beat after his friend. The usually friendly man didn't even acknowledge them. Shuhei and Renji exchanged a look. "What the hell is going on?" Renji snapped, frustrated.

"Whatever it is, it isn't good." Shuhei agreed.

"Do you think it's Captain Yamamoto?" Renji asked, suddenly worried. "Maybe he…"

Shuhei paused, his head tilted to the side. "His reiatsu's still there," he replied. "And it isn't any worse than it was yesterday."

"Then what- good morning Captain Komamura!"

Komamura growled at them.

"Agh!" both Shuhei and Renji exclaimed at the same time. "Well, there's no need to be rude," Renji snapped. "_Bastard_."

"Good morning Captain Kurotsuchi, Captain Zaraki!"

Neither Captain replied.

"What. The. Hell! Oh, good morning Captain Ukitake!"

Ukitake acknowledged them with a quick wave, but that was it.

"Well…" Shuhei began. "At least he's being more polite than everybody else so far."

"Barely." Renji grumbled. "Hey Nanao."

"Good morning Abarai, Hisagi." Nanao pushed up her glasses, frowning. "Do you know what's going on?"

"No," Shuhei and Renji chorused sulkily.

"Captain Komamura growled at us when we greeted him!" Renji exclaimed. "_Growled!_"

"And Captain Unohana glared at me when I asked her what was going on."

"Captain Soi Fon slapped me," Nanao told them, rubbing her cheek ruefully. "I still don't know why."

"She slapped you!"

"Yes." Nanao scowled at the ground. "And Captain Kurotsuchi shoved me against a wall."

"What'd you do?"

"Nothing! I was just walking, and he shoved me against a wall!"

"Sit down," Shuhei said, patting the rock beside him. Nanao sat.

"What about Captain Soi Fon? What'd you do there?"

"I said good morning," Nanao grumbled. "And then she slapped me." The three of them shared a look.

"This is ridiculous!" Shuhei snapped. "They're not allowed to _hit_ you, especially if you've done nothing wrong!"

"Hey Isane," Renji greeted the shy Vice Captain.

"Hi Renji, Shuhei, Nanao." Isane replied. "Umm… Does anybody know what's going on?"

"No." the three of them chorused.

"Oh…"

"Come sit," Nanao offered, and Isane perched on the rock next to her.

"Did Captain Kurotsuchi scream obscenities at you too?" Isane asked.

"No. He pushed me against a wall." Nanao replied.

"He didn't even acknowledge us." Renji said.

"Did Captain Komamura growl at you?" Shuhei asked.

"Yes." Isane mumbled. "It was quite scary."

"He growled at me too," Momo murmured, sitting primly beside Isane. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Nanao, Renji, Shuhei and Isane said in unison.

"Does anybody have any clue why all of the captain's are so irritable?" Ikkaku asked, dropping down on the ground by Renji.

"Yes, it's very ugly." Yumichika agreed, sitting down beside his friend. "Captain Kurotsuchi told us to, and I quote, 'fuck off and go die in a hole'."

"Nobody knows." Isane sighed.

"What's making Ken-chan so grumpy?" Yachiru asked, scrambling to stand on Ikkaku's shoulders.

"No clue." Shuhei muttered.

"I wish I knew," Nanao agreed.

"The hell's with the captains?" Rangiku grumbled, joining them. "Kenpachi punched me, and then slammed me against a wall. Is it bruising?"

"Yes, it is," Nanao told her.

"Here," Isane took out some cream and carefully spread it over the bruise.

"Nobody knows what's gotten into them!" Ikkaku added.

"What is Captain Kuchiki carrying?" Izuru asked. "And why is Captain Kurotsuchi screaming at everybody who approaches him?" The shy boy was shaking. "Actually, what's wrong with all of them?"

Momo gently patted the rock beside her, and Izuru sat down beside her.

"They're all acting weird." She told him. "None of us know why."

"It's scary," Rangiku murmured. "Oh, hi Nemu. Do you know what's going on?"

"No. The Captains are all acting quite peculiar." Nemu shrugged. "Captain Kurotsuchi doesn't tell me anything."

"This is ridiculous," Ikkaku muttered.

"Well…" Nanao began. "Since we're all up we may as well do something useful."

"I'm hungry!" Yachiru whined.

"Let's go make breakfast," Shuhei suggested. "Rangiku, don't you _dare_ touch the food!"

The confused crowd of Vice Captain's made their way towards the kitchen, where they found Omaeda and Iba arguing about something to do with 'manliness' and 'honour'. Soon the smell of food filled the air, and other officers of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads trailed out of their tents to get something to eat. Not one Captain showed up.

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><p><strong>Right... Anyways, hope you liked =)<strong>

**Reviews? Please, please, please? You might get to go to a party with Ulqui, kitty and I... Or we could go dye Szayel's hair green or... You know. Fun stuff XD**

**-Stormy**


	13. Problems, apocolyse, and imminent death

**... Potty mouth warning XD**

**And very OOC Captains. Like, extremely OOC. But... when you find out what's happening I hope you can forgive me =)**

**Thankee to reviewers and favoriters and story alerters and special thanks to Dranna123 who told me that Byakuya's glovey things are called tekkou. Thank you!**

**If I owned Bleach I'd be Tite Kubo. And If I were Tite Kubo, I'd look like Tite Kubo. And I am not a guy. Therefore I am not Tite Kubo and I don't own Bleach.**

* * *

><p>"This is… bad." Shunsui said. He was frowning, something that was unusual for him.<p>

"No, _really_," Mayuri snapped. "You're a fucking genius Kyoraku."

Komamura growled at both of them.

"Can you please Shut Up!" Unohana snarled, glaring at all of them. Her comment went ignored.

"Fuck off Mayuri," Kenpachi sneered. "Nobody likes you."

"Go to hell Kenpachi!"

"I'm already there, asshole!"

"Who are you calling an asshole you ignorant lump of pure stupidity!" Mayuri retorted. Despite how bad the situation was, several of the captains watching laughed softly.

"Stupid? You think I'm stupid!" Kenpachi completely forgot about his sword and went to punch Mayuri. He missed, and the two of them began to try to beat each other senseless. Byakuya sighed, watching them. All of the Captains, except for Captain Yamamoto were gathered by the broken seal that covered a mass of barely contained spiritual energy. It was the cause of the recent explosions, and if they didn't do something soon, there would be an explosion so great that it wiped out the whole Soul Society. And of course, that would send the World of the Living into what the humans called an 'apocalypse'.

"It's not even 2012 yet!" Soi Fon moaned. "I don't want to die!"

"The hell's 2012?" Hitsugaya asked grumpily, ignoring the screams of 'idiotic lout' and 'fucking mutant bastard' that rang out from the fight going on behind them.

"The year the world's supposed to end." Soi Fon told him.

"Well, obviously that's just human stupidity!" Hitsugaya exclaimed.

"Well, yes." Soi Fon agreed, "But I still don't want to die!"

"Nobody does," Unohana grumbled, kicking at the ground. She looked over at Byakuya. "Do you have it?"

"No," was the sarcastic reply. "I'm just carrying this damn thing around for fun."

Ukitake intervened before another fight could begin. "Now, there's no time for fighting. Let's just attempt to solve the problem as best we can, alright?" he scowled, and spun to face Mayuri and Kenpachi. "Will you two _shut the fuck up_!" Startled, Mayuri and Kenpachi stopped arguing and stared at Ukitake. All of the other captains did too. "_Thank you_," Ukitake muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"I suppose we should start?" Hitsugaya suggested after an awkward pause. "You know… Just in case we manage to make any difference."

"Yeah… Cuz we're the only people who can stop the whole entire world from… well…" Soi Fon continued awkwardly.

"Going boom." Byakuya said flatly. There was a murmur of agreement from the other captains, well, everybody except for Komamura, who just growled again.

"Right. What the hell are we supposed to do? Anybody know?" Kyoraku asked.

"…" nobody said anything.

"Well this is just wonderful!" Mayuri exclaimed.

"Does this thing come with an instruction manual?" Unohana asked, examining it.

"If we survive this, I'm going to write one!" Hitsugaya said bluntly.

"So… we just… wing it?" Ukitake suggested.

"Brilliant. This is just fucking _brilliant_!" Mayuri snarled.

"Well, since you're the scientific genius around here, how about you give it a go?" Kenpachi snapped.

"Quit arguing!" Byakuya snarled.

"Grr!" Komamura agreed.

"Right… so, anyways. What does this little button here do?" Kyoraku asked.

"Don't press it!" all of the others chorused.

"Wait! I found instructions!" Unohana exclaimed. "Umm… this is going to be very confusing, but I think we can do it." She was lying on the ground with her head tilted at an odd angle, trying to read the bottom of the seal.

"So the world's not going to end after all?" Soi Fon asked.

"Maybe not." Hitsugaya replied.

"Alright. Here's what we do…" Unohana began calling out instructions, and the other captains hurried to obey her.

* * *

><p>Sometime in the mid afternoon, the Vice Captains, and Yumichika and Ikkaku had gone out to some of the storage sheds for supplies. When they got back it was to some very confused looking officers staring at each other.<p>

"What's up?" Rangiku asked cheerfully.

"Th-the Captains," a young unseated officer told her.

"They're in the Rec room," another chimed in. The rec room was what they had dubbed a large amount of empty space with absolutely no purpose. Some officers had been playing a game of tag there the night before.

"They're acting really strange!" the first continued. "Captain Komamura growled at me!"

"And me!"

"And me!"

"Join the club," Shuhei muttered. "I think he's growled at everyone today."

"Let's put this away and go see what's going on," Nanao suggested.

"Yeah." Momo agreed. "I wonder what's gotten into them."

When they reached the rec room, they were greeted with the strangest sight any of them had ever seen.

All of the captains were sprawled out on the ground. Some were sleeping, some were arguing bitterly with one another, and a few were just yelling 'Shut up!' at the top of their lungs.

"I hate you," Kenpachi informed Mayuri.

"I hate you more!"

"I hate you more than that!"

"I hate you more than that!"

"Well, I hate you ten thousand times more than that!"

"I hate you a hundred thousand times more than that!"

"I hate you-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Hitsugaya screamed.

"Komamura, get your foot out of my face!" Soi Fon snarled. "It smells bad." Komamura didn't seem to have regained the powers of speech yet, because he only growled at her, and didn't move.

"Ungh…" Byakuya groaned, covering his ears with his hands.

"I hate you a billion times more than that!" Mayuri screeched at Kenpachi, again.

"Please be quiet," Byakuya moaned. "Ow…"

"I hate you a million kajillion times more than that!" Kenpachi screamed at Mayuri. Byakuya groaned softly. Unohana opened her eyes to glare at them.

"And I hate you both! Shut your mouth before I shut it for you!"

"Yes ma'am…"

"Dammit…" Shunsui moaned. "This is the _worst_ hangover _ever_."

"That's because it's not a hangover you idiot!" Hitsugaya screamed.

"Shut. Up." Byakuya growled, lifting his face from the ground. "I think my head's going to explode. And Ukitake is _not_ as light as he looks. Trust me, my back's breaking."

"…" Ukitake was sound asleep, draped over Byakuya's back.

"I hate you," Byakuya informed him.

"Get your foot _out_ of my face!" Soi Fon yelled again. "I mean it you bastard!"

"…" Komamura had also fallen asleep.

"I hate you infinity times more than that!" Mayuri snapped. "So there. Beat that!"

Kenpachi's only reply was to snore loudly. Mayuri let his head drop onto the ground.

"Yeah, I thought so…" he muttered sleepily, before passing out.

"Hey, Byakyuya… hey, hey," Unohana began, poking the other man. "Hey, wake up."

Silence. Byakuya was completely unconscious.

"Hey… hey…" Unohana followed suit, and soon she too was asleep.

The Vice Captain's stared at each other, and then back at their captains. For once, even Rangiku was speechless. After a while, Momo spoke up timidly.

"Perhaps we should just… leave them there and go make supper or something."

"Yeah," Izuru agreed.

"They'll probably be hungry when they wake up," Shuhei agreed.

"We're doing them a service, really." Isane agreed.

"So… Let's... just go."

"Rangiku, you're still not allowed to touch the food!" Shuhei snapped, striding towards the kitchen. "And neither are you Yachiru. I don't care what you think, chocolate covered eggs with green peppers and ice cream _doesn't taste good_!" Bickering softly among themselves, the Vice Captain's made their way towards the kitchen, and away from their captains.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah... OOCness. I warned you.<strong>

**Could somebody _please_ tell me the difference between hits and visitors? I don't get it!**

**Review? Please?**

**-Stormy**


	14. Headaches, screaming, and warm feelings

**Thankee to Reviewers! Thanks to everybody who speculated on the difference between Hits and Views... It seems like nobody actually knows for sure... Does anybody know or is Fanfiction just playing with our minds?**

**Kaili's back =) And just as adorable as ever (or so I hope)**

**I don't own Bleach. If I did there would be a Phantom of the Opera and a Wicked Witch of the West. Oh yes, there would also be a sorting hat, a few more werewolves and Trisana Chandler. Because Tris is the _BEST_ and who doesn't like werewolves and sorting hats? Also, the opening songs would be songs from Nightwish, Marianas Trench, Within Temptation, Cadle of Filfth, and/or Evanescence.**

**If you don't know what I meant by sorting hat... I'm hoping that you just temporarily forgot. Just to refresh your memory, think HARRY POTTER! Yeah. It's awesome. If you don't know who Trisana Chandler is, I'm not surprised. I feel quite bad for you though. You're missing out. Read Tamora Pierce's 'Circle of Magic' and 'Circle Opens' books, and then you'll understand. If you don't know about any of the bands mentioned above, YouTube them! They are _awesome_!**

**... Right. On with the story.**

* * *

><p>Renji paused, staring at the odd procession passing them. Ikkaku and Yumichika were carrying Kenpachi in between them, stumbling a bit at his weight. Yachiru was sitting on Kenpachi's stomach, bouncing up and down and chattering in a loud voice.<p>

"Okay!" Ikkaku growled. "Who gave her candy?" Renji had to fight not to burst out laughing.

"What's up?" he asked, falling into step beside Ikkaku.

"We're getting the Captains out of there," Ikkaku replied.

"Some officers want to continue the game of tag from last night," Yumichika continued. "You need to go get your Captain. I highly doubt that he can walk."

"When we were there he was on the ground, moaning in pain," Ikkaku said. "None of the Captains can walk. Soi Fon was being carried out of there by What's-His-Face from eighth. The third seat. She's going to be pissed when she wakes up."

Renji laughed. "She _is_. See you!"

"Bye," Yumichika and Ikkaku chorused.

"Buh-bye funny tattoos!" Yachiru called, waving.

Renji made his way to the Rec. Room, passing Isane, who was supporting Unohana. The usually calm captain was giggling maniacally and kept on poking the side of Isane's head.

"I hope she snaps out of it," Isane groaned. "This is _really_ annoying." Renji stared at Unohana.

"I'll bet." He agreed.

"But at least I don't have Captain Kurotsuchi. I feel really bad for Nemu," she continued. "He's screaming at the top of his lungs and keeps on slapping her over the side of the head." Renji winced. "Kiyone and Sentaro are carrying Captain Ukitake out, and Iba's dragging Captain Komamura behind him while Captain Komamura barks at him. Nanao has to support Captain Kyoraku. She said that she's really worried about him because he's not trying to grope her like he usually does."

Renji frowned. "… I kinda feel bad for Nanao."

"She doesn't mind really," Isane replied. "She likes him back, she's just afraid to admit it. Alright, _alright_! Yes, we're going!" That last part was directed towards Unohana. "Sorry," Isane told him wearily. "I have to go before she… what was it? Oh yes. Cuts my head open and eats my brains for dinner."

"Isn't that typical zombie behaviour? Is she turning into a zombie?"

"I sure hope no- Ow! Fine, we're _going_!" Isane gave him a shy smile. "Bye Renji."

"See you," Renji replied. He managed to reach the Rec. Room without any more confrontation from delirious, unconscious, or just plain unreasonable captains. When he got there, he saw that Ikkaku and Yumichika hadn't been exaggerating. Byakuya was lying on the ground, clutching his head as though he was afraid it was going to split open.

"Captain?" Renji asked. Byakuya moaned, and curled into a tighter ball.

"Ow…" Byakuya whimpered.

"Right." Renji bent down and scooped him up, nearly falling over backwards. He hadn't expected his Captain to be that light! Byakuya nestled his head against Renji's neck, and clutched his shirt tightly. (**I give up on trying to name the robe things. It's just going to be a shirt from now on.**) "Want to tell me what happened?" Renji asked.

"Uh uh. I think I'm dying." Byakuya whispered, sounding as though he meant it.

"I sure hope not," Renji told him, starting to walk towards the tent, where Kaili was waiting. He was trying hard not to think about how his Captain's body was pressed against his, or about how he could feel Byakuya's breath against his neck. "That would be… unfortunate." Byakuya whimpered again, and to Renji's abrupt discomfort, snuggled closer to Renji's chest. _I really hope that Kaili's willing to surrender her blanket,_ he thought. Byakuya's skin was like ice and he was shivering.

When Renji reached the tent, Kaili was sitting outside, drawing pictures in the dirt. She looked up when Renji approached, and waved to him cheerfully.

"I made Captain Kuchiki a little fort," she informed him, beaming. "Cuz I figured he'd need it. I saw Captain Hitsugaya. He didn't look so good. Rangiku was carrying him, and he was screaming and crying like a toddler. He said something about cookies…" Kaili shrugged. "I made it out of all of the blankets. You can have yours back when you go to bed." Renji grinned down at her.

"You are the sweetest person that I have ever met." He informed her, ducking into the tent. Sure enough, there was a little nest of blankets and pillows in Byakuya's corner of the tent. He gently set the smaller man down, and began wrapping the blankets around him.

"Did he puke?" Kaili asked, following Renji in.

"Twice," Renji replied. It had not been a pleasant experience. "He hasn't eaten anything today though, so nothing came up." Kaili patted Byakuya's head.

"Poor Captain," she murmured, before lying down on her stomach, staring up at Renji. "You should take his ponytail out. He always sleeps with his hair down."

"He's not exactly sleeping," Renji muttered.

"You should still take it out." Kaili insisted. "It isn't comfy sleeping with your hair up." She tugged at one of her slightly crooked pigtails. Renji stared down at his Captain warily. He didn't want to touch the other man again, for fear of the odd warmth that traveled up his fingers and into his neck and face and stomach when he did. It wasn't unpleasant, but Renji couldn't quite categorize it, which made him wary. He followed Kaili's instructions anyways, since she was right. It _wasn't_ comfortable to sleep with your hair up. He had done it. It made your head hurt. And since Byakuya looked as though he already had a headache, Renji figured that he didn't need another one. Carefully, he undid the hair band. Byakuya's hair was silky and smooth against his fingers, and once again Renji felt an odd heat in the pit of his stomach.

_What is this?_ He wondered as he carefully placed Byakuya's hair band down beside him. _And why do I _like _it?_

* * *

><p>When Byakuya woke up, the first thing he was aware of was how much his head hurt. Well, all of him hurt, but his head felt the worst. And he was cold. Very, very cold. And slightly nauseous. He bit back a groan, and slowly opened his eyes, meeting green ones.<p>

"You're awake," Kaili said simply, leaning back. "Renji went to get something to eat." Byakuya pushed himself into a sitting position, tugging the blankets back up around him. He didn't really care that they were somebody else's blankets- he was _freezing_.

"Cold?" Kaili asked him. He nodded. "It could be worse. We think Captain Unohana might have turned into a zombie. She keeps on threatening to eat people's brains."

"Not anymore," Renji said, crawling into their tent. "Now she's just in a _really_ bad mood. Or at least, according to Isane, she's not acting like a zombie anymore. Do you want something to eat Captain?"

"No. Thank you," Byakuya said quickly. The very thought of food was enough to make his stomach turn over. Renji shrugged, and handed a plate to Kaili.

"Captain Hitsugaya's still having a temper tantrum though. Apparently he didn't want cookies after all. Komamura is _still_ growling at everybody. Captain Ukitake screams 'shut the fuck up' at anybody who tries to speak to him, and Captain Zaraki and Captain Kurotsuchi are having an argument. I think it has something to do with who hates who more…" Byakuya had carefully rested his aching head on his knees, which also ached, but in a different way, while Renji had been speaking. Now he lifted his head again.

"They're still fighting?" he asked.

"They've been going on for a long time…" Renji sighed. "It's beginning to get a bit tedious." Byakuya let his head drop again. "Captain Soi Fon is also screaming at everybody, but it has something to do with 2012 and a zombie apocalypse."

"Wonderful," Byakuya grumbled. "She's still on that."

"What's 2012?" Kaili asked.

"The year the humans think the world is going to end." Byakuya replied.

"Oh…" Kaili said. "That's dumb. You can't predict when the world's gonna end."

"What happened?" Renji asked. Byakuya looked up again. Both Renji and Kaili were staring at him expectantly. Byakuya rested his forehead on his knees, and told them exactly what had happened. Well, the parts that he could remember.

* * *

><p><strong>That's it =)<strong>

**Review please?**

**-Stormy**

**Tris: "_I was reading._" **

**Sandry: "_You're _always_ reading. The only way people can ever talk to you is to interrupt._"**

**Tris: "_Then maybe they shouldn't talk to me._"**

**— _Trisana Chandler and Sandrilene fa Toren_**

**_Briar's Book- Tamora Pierce_**

**I don't own Tamora Pierce either... This is a quote from one of her books in the 'Circle of Magic' series.**


	15. Exhaustion, waking and bedtime stories

**Thank you to reviewers, and also anybody who has actually read this far!**

**Um... I actually don't have that much to say so...**

**I don't own Bleach. If I did... screw it. I can't think of a creative disclaimer. I don't own Bleach, this is not for profit! There.**

**Enjoy =)**

* * *

><p>Renji glanced over at his captain, wondering whether or not he was asleep. It was hard to tell, since Byakuya's face was turned away from him. He hadn't moved since he'd finished explaining what had happened to them, and Renji was still struggling to figure it out.<p>

"Wait," Renji said slowly, and Byakuya lifted his head and looked at him. The fatigue weighing down his eyelids was almost painful to see. "The world was ending, and nobody thought it would be a good thing to _tell_ _us_?"

"No time," Byakuya replied quietly. "Not if we wanted to stop it. What did you want us to do?"

"Maybe, I dunno, yell over your shoulder or something."

"Yeah, that would really work." Byakuya must have been _really_ tired. He wasn't usually sarcastic- or at least, not out loud. "The world's going to end soon, don't panic, bye! I'm sure that would have just made you all want to cooperate and _not_ run around screaming." Renji chuckled softly and Byakuya glared at him. Kaili giggled.

Byakuya rested his head on his knees again as though he was too tired to hold it up. Kaili crawled around Renji and tugged gently on Byakuya's sleeve.

"Tell me a story." She demanded.

"Renji, tell her a story," Byakuya muttered, not lifting his head.

"Renji already told me a story. I want _you _to tell me a story!" she demanded, tugging on his sleeve again. "_Please!_"

"How can you resist that face?" Renji asked, struggling not to laugh. He knew it wasn't very nice, but the childish note in Byakuya's voice made him want to burst out laughing. It was so unlike him!

"By not looking," Byakuya replied sulkily.

"_Pretty please?_" Kaili tried. "With sugar on top!"

"Maybe later."

Kaili sighed. "But I want a story now!"

"Then ask Renji."

"But I want _you_ to tell me a story."

"Then wait until later."

"Now!"

"Ask Renji."

"But-" Kaili pulled harder on Byakuya's sleeve. "I want _you_ to!"

"Wait until later."

Renji gently tugged Kaili away from Byakuya, swallowing a snicker. This was priceless, but he had to feel slightly bad for his captain. After all, he looked like shit, and obviously didn't feel any better.

"I think it's time to go to bed," he told Kaili. "You're getting grumpy."

"I wanna story," she whined.

"I'll tell you a story."

"But I want Captain Kuchiki to tell me one!"

"He'll tell you one tomorrow. Isn't that right?" Renji gave Byakuya a look, even though Byakuya's eyes were shut and he couldn't see it.

"Sure." Without opening his eyes, or even lifting his head, Byakuya untangled one of the blankets from around his shoulders and held it out, pinched in between his index finger and his middle finger. Renji took it and lay Kaili down in her corner. Byakuya threw a pillow in their direction, and it landed beside Renji.

"Thank you Captain."

"Huh."

"I'm _not_ tired!" Kaili demanded. "I'm _not_!"

"Uh-huh," Renji agreed, wrapping the blanket around her body. "Alright. What story do you want?"

"I want Captain Kuchiki to tell me a story!"

"Tomorrow." Renji said. "What about the time that Mayuri blew up the twelfth division?" Renji began to speak, and Kaili was asleep before he'd even completed the second sentence. "Yeah," Renji grumbled. "She was _so_ not tired." He glanced over at Byakuya, who didn't move. "Are you asleep too?" he asked. Silence. "Maybe it's just the story," Renji suggested. Nobody answered him. "Screw this," he informed the two sleeping figures. "I'm going to go play kickball. You two are _boring_."

When Renji got back to the tent, yawning, darkness had long since set in. He crawled in, finding everybody basically where he'd left them. Byakuya was still sitting, his head resting on his knees, and Kaili was still sprawled on the ground, blankets tucked firmly around her. Renji retrieved his pillow, and lay it down. He was surprised when Byakuya offered him the blanket, still not lifting his head or opening his eyes. The smaller man was _still_ shivering and Renji shook his head.

"Keep it," he told Byakuya. "I'm hot anyways."

"You _are_," Byakuya murmured, pulling the blanket back around himself. Renji choked, and turned red. Byakuya chuckled softly, the smallest of sounds. Renji stared at him. He'd made his captain laugh. He, _Renji Abarai_ had made his captain, _Byakuya Kuchiki_, _laugh_! Byakuya was silent again, and Renji wondered if he had fallen asleep. He stretched out slowly on the ground, giving his captain nervous looks. _Did he mean it?_ Renji wondered. _Or was he just teasing me_. He hoped against hope that Byakuya had actually meant it, although that seemed unlikely. Of course, if anybody had told him even a week ago that Byakuya would _tease_ him, Renji would have sent them straight to the fourth to have their heads checked.

* * *

><p>Byakuya woke up at around noon. His head still ached, but not as much as it had, and he was hungry. He tried to remember the last time that he had eaten, and failed. It had been a long time ago, that much he was certain of. Byakuya stumbled out of the tent and went in search of food. Once he had eaten, and decided that maybe he <em>wasn't<em> going to starve to death after all, he sat quietly on what had once been part of the ninth division's wall, and watched the people passing, content not to move. His whole body still hurt, as though he had been thrown off a cliff and miraculously survived.

"Good… afternoon Captain," Renji greeted him, plopping down beside him. Byakuya looked over at him, but didn't say anything. "You're the first captain up," Renji informed him, stretching. "You could've slept a bit longer."

"I was hungry," Byakuya replied. "And it's…" he looked up at the sky. "One-ish."

"So?" Renji asked. "I sleep until three on the weekends." Byakuya stared at him.

"You're kidding." He said flatly.

"Not this time," Renji grinned. "Come on. Doesn't everybody?"

"I haven't slept past five since…" Byakuya frowned, thinking. "I can't remember the last time I slept past five." This time it was Renji's turn to stare.

"You're insane."

"Just a bit." Byakuya agreed. "It comes with the job." Renji gaped at him for a moment, before bursting out laughing. Byakuya kept his face carefully blank, but inside he felt a quick heat of satisfaction. He liked Renji's laugh. It was beautiful, just like the rest of him. Usually he only heard if from a distance, when Renji was talking with his friends, or out training, and Byakuya heard it float up through the window of the barracks, or just passing.

"Aren't you going to tell them what happened?" Renji asked. "Everybody's pretty confused." Byakuya shrugged. He didn't particularly want to be the one to explain to everybody that they had just narrowly avoided an apocalypse.

"I'll leave that to the last person up," he decided.

"That's very kind of you." He said, and Byakuya could hear the barely contained laughter in his voice.

"Isn't it?" He asked, all seriousness. "I'm a very kind person." Renji burst into laughter again, and this time Byakuya was unable to hold back a small smile. Having Renji this close to him, laughing beside him made him feel warm inside. (**I know it's corny. Please forgive me.**) He wondered why exactly this was, before deciding not to dwell on it. The fact that it did was enough for him.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you to renjfantoo for giving me the idea for the 'bedtime story' part of this chapter =) Thankee!<strong>

**Review? Please?**

**-Stormy**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**SQUIRREL!**


	16. Feelings, speeches and needed normalicy

**I finished the chapter! This one was probably the hardest to write... The daily updates are _killing_ me. But in a good way. Like eating brocolli and going to bed on time. Or like going for a really long, hard bike ride. It hurts a lot while your doing it, but it feels way better after. Yeah... Daily updates are going to continue.**

**Anyways, I don't own Bleach. I still don't have any good ideas for creative disclaimers, so we'll leave it at that.**

**Enjoy =)**

* * *

><p>The last person up ended up being Hitsugaya. The captains had gotten together in a quick group, and then shoved Toshiro to the wolves, sat back, and watched the show. Nobody wanted to be the one to tell a whole bunch of freaked out shinigami with <em>swords<em> that the world had nearly ended the day before. Unfortunately for Toshiro, every other captain had stuck with Byakuya's 'last person up has to do it' philosophy, and now he was standing on a piece of wall, which didn't _really_ make him taller than everybody else, but it was the closest thing that they had to a stage. The rest of the captains were a great distance back, watching. Now he was being shot at with questions ranging from 'how'd you stop it' to 'why the hell are we still alive' to 'you're kidding us, right?' In the end, Hitsugaya decided that it wasn't worth it and pulled authority on all of them. It was an effective way to shut them all up, and Byakuya applauded him for it when he joined the other captains, who were watching with pity, amusement, or a bit of both.

"I hate you all," Hitsugaya muttered grumpily. "You couldn't have joined me, by any chance?"

"Sorry," Unohana replied kindly. She was back to her usual, unzombie-like self. "But _nobody_ wants to go through that."

"Wonderful," Hitsugaya groaned. "It's good to know I can count on my fellow captains."

"Nobody was going to try and _kill_ you," Soi Fon pointed out.

"We would have stepped in if they had," Ukitake promised.

"Great. The wonderful Gotei Thirteen. They'll fight, anytime, anywhere. But they can't handle a few questions."

"That basically sums it up," Shunsui agreed.

"That should be our motto," Ukitake suggested.

"I like it. Who needs words when you've got a sword?" Kenpachi grinned maniacally, one hand going to his zanpaku-to. "I can't see what all the fuss was about. Why'd we tell them anyways? It's not like they really _had_ to know."

"They did." Byakuya's voice was soft, but everybody turned to look at him all the same. He had been so quiet that some had actually forgotten that he was still there. "They were worried, and frightened. To have all of the captains disappear, after acting very strangely before, and acting even more strangely when they got back, on top of everything else that has happened…" he trailed off. "They had to know. Not because of the knowledge, but for a reason why the people they look up to, and respect, were acting… odd. To say the very least."

"You," Komamura spoke up at last, "should have been a public speaker."

"Aren't I?" Byakuya asked, looking him in the eye. Even though Byakuya was over three feet shorter than the other man, it was immediately obvious who was stronger. "It's part of the job. Maybe we don't think of it like that, but it is." The other captains stared at him again, but Byakuya wasn't paying them any attention. He was wondering whether or not he'd be held to his promise to tell Kaili a bedtime story. He sure hoped not. He really wasn't any good with stories.

The captains drained away, leaving only Hitsugaya and Byakuya remaining. Byakuya gave Hitsugaya a sudden look.

"Do you know any good stories?"

"… huh?"

"Do you?"

"Um… why do you ask?"

Byakuya sighed. "I have to tell a bedtime story to Kaili. But I don't know any."

"You have to… How'd you get roped into that?"

"Well, it was either tonight, or last night."

Hitsugaya winced. "Ouch."

"Yes. So, do you?"

"Maybe you should just tell her something funny, or unusual that happened here, instead of the generic children's stories," Toshiro suggested. "That way you don't have to make anything up, and she won't have heard it before." Byakuya gave the smaller man a sideways look.

"I'll go with that," he replied. "Thanks." Hitsugaya grinned.

"No problem."

* * *

><p>Renji was sitting cross-legged, cuddling Kaili when Byakuya crawled in. Kailli was grumpy, and tired, although she refused to admit it. Giving Byakuya a relieved look, Renji gently settled Kaili on the ground.<p>

"Here. Captain Kuchiki's going to tell you a story, alright?" Kaili nodded, and Renji ducked out of the tent as Byakuya took his spot. Kaili clambered onto Byakuya's lap.

Breathing the cold night air in with relief, Renji went in search of his friends. He knew that there was absolutely no sake left in the Seireitei, but he needed some desperately. Kaili was grumpier than normal, the world had almost ended, the Seireitei was in ruins, and he was pretty sure that he'd fallen in love with Captain Kuchiki. His life was in utter turmoil, and he needed something familiar to steady it. And the only familiar thing that he could think of at the moment was hanging out with a big crowd of friends and getting very, very drunk. Unfortunately, the last part wasn't going to happen. He did, however, have a very good chance of the first part. After all, he had lots of friends, and all that he had to do was talk to one or two. The rest would happen by itself.

"Hey, Rangiku!" Renji called. Rangiku was a master at gathering a lot of people together for parties. Renji really did wonder how she did it sometimes.

Soon there was a big crowd hanging out a ways away from the tents, but it didn't feel quite the same as it usually did. Did the location and absence of sake really change things that much? Renji wondered. Or maybe it had just been him that had changed.

* * *

><p>Kaili was snuggled as close to Byakuya as was possible. Her small body was warm against his chest, and her breath tickled his neck. Byakuya spoke softly, telling her of Yoruichi's many annoying escapades when he was a kid. Kaili giggled sleepily at some parts, clinging to consciousness in order to hear what happened next.<p>

"Another one," Kaili begged sleepily when Byakuya was finished. "Please!"

"It's time for you to go to sleep," Byakuya told her, gently settling her on the floor of the tent.

"But I'm not tired!" Kaili protested, even though she could barely keep her eyes open. Byakuya ignored her protests and tucked a blanket around her small figure. Sensing that Byakuya wasn't going to cave, she tried to negotiate. "Tomorrow?" she asked.

"Maybe," Byakuya murmured. Kaili stared at him for a moment, as though she were trying to dredge up the energy to tell him that 'maybe wasn't good enough'. But then she shut her eyes, and cuddled into the blankets. She was asleep almost immediately.

Byakuya retreated to his corner of the tent, trying to glean a bit of comfort from the soft breathing beside him. All that he wanted was something normal. His life had been unceremoniously dumped into chaos. He was taking care of a little girl, which he had absolutely no clue how to do, the Seireitei was wrecked, he'd had to stop the world from ending and his head _still_ hurt, and he had fallen in love with Renji Abarai. Really, a little bit of normal just then shouldn't have been too much to ask for. But apparently it was since normal still evaded him. This, for lack of a better term, sucked.

* * *

><p><strong>Haha! They realized their feelings! It had to happen sometime...<strong>

**Sixteenth chapter, and they're only just now figuring out that they're in love... Is it just me, or is this moving _really_ slowly... Oh well.**

**Reviews are appreciated. Thank you to anybody who has reviewed. You make my day. I literally check my inbox at least five times a day, just to see if I've gotten any new reviews. Yeah... I'm obsessed. So review to make me happy! =)**

**-Stormy**


	17. Sickness, dilemma and unneeded teasing

**Thank you to Reviewers! And anybody else who has read this far!**

**If I owned Bleach, UkiUna would be canon. If I owned Star Trek, there would be killer unicorns trying to take over the enterprise. Enough said.**

* * *

><p>When Byakuya woke up, the sun was only just peaking up over the horizon, and hadn't managed to chase the stars away yet. Renji was snoring softly beside him, and Kaili was curled up in a small ball, murmuring something about unicorns taking over the Enterprise. What that meant, Byakuya had no clue. He did know, however, that the small girl had spent <em>far<em> too much time around Nemu and Mayuri. Preferably just Nemu though. Mayuri freaked Byakuya out.

"No," Kaili muttered, clenching her fists. "You are _not_ allowed to eat Spock. You're s'posed to be nice! No eating Spocky!" Byakuya stared down at her, frowning. Was this a nightmare? Should he wake her up? Kaili giggled softly and Byakuya relaxed. Good. "Nice Unicorn." More giggles. Byakuya shook his head slowly. This was ridiculous.

_What the hell's a 'Spock'? (_**If you to are thinking this... google it. Please, save yourself and google it! If you don't know who Spock is, well... you haven't lived!**) Byakuya wondered. _And why aren't the unicorns supposed to eat it? Is it poisonous or something?_ He crawled out of the tent, and went for a walk.

Kaili found him half an hour later in the empty field where Renji had held his little party the night before, sitting on a rock and staring contemplatively out at the sunrise. She crawled onto his lap, and cuddled up against him, sobbing softly. Byakuya had gotten better at dealing with little kids, so he just wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, resting his chin on her head. She still smelt nice, even though none of them had had a decent bath since… well since the day the Seireitei had collapsed, whenever that had been. Maybe little kids always smelt nice. It was a thought.

"I don't feel good." She whimpered. "I wanna go home." Byakuya sighed. This was _just_ what he needed. A sick little girl on top of everything else. Wonderful.

"You can't," his voice was gentle. "You know that." He stood up, carefully picking her up and balancing her against his body. This was awkward. Also slightly embarrassing, demeaning, and uncomfortable.

Kaili wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging tight enough to nearly choke him. Instead of mentioning it however, Byakuya just shifted her up a bit, and began walking in the general direction of the medical tents. He really did hope that Unohana was up. Because this was going to get very messy, very fast if she wasn't. He had no clue how to take care of a sick child. He barely knew how to take care of a well one, let alone a sick one!

Kaili coughed into his shoulder and it took all of his self control not to wince. There was _no way_ that he was getting sick. Not a chance. He'd rather have to live through another near-apocalypse.

"My throat hurts," she murmured. "I don't like it."

"I don't blame you," Byakuya replied softly. Kaili lifted her head to look up at him, and then let it flop back against his shoulder.

"Make it stop."

"I can't." Byakuya hoisted her up again, and turned a corner. "But Unohana will try, alright?"

"Uh huh."

Unohana laughed when she saw him.

"Byakuya Kuchiki," she said, stepping aside to let him into her tent. "Captain of the Sixth Division, Head of the great Kuchiki Clan. Able to defeat almost any opponent, manage two different systems at the same time and any emergency that might crop up. However, he has no clue what to do with a sick kid."

"Shut up," Byakuya grumbled. "That's not my job. It's yours."

"Now it's your job," Unohana told him, smiling gently.

"No, it's still yours."

"She's adopted you Captain Kuchiki. It's your job now, as…" she trailed off, staring at him seriously. "Acting father?" she tried. Byakuya stared at her.

"Unlikely."

"Unless you'd like to be the mommy," Unohana teased. "Who _is _acting mommy anyways?" she looked down at Kaili. The girl snuggled closer to Byakuya.

"Renji," she whispered.

"There you go. You're the daddy, Renji's the mommy. It works."

Byakuya stared at her, incredulous. "You're kidding."

"Only partly. Renji doesn't have to be mommy. He could be like… second daddy. That works too. Or you could both be mommy, but I doubt you want that."

"You're brains are still scrambled."

"Nope! It's your job to take care of sick little children now whether you like it or not. Well, this one at least." Unohana was laughing at him now. Byakuya groaned.

"I don't know how to take care of sick children! Hell, I don't know how to take care of sick _anybodies!_"

"Least of all of them yourself," Unohana said seriously. "I know. You're a wreck some days. I really can't see how anybody can _not _notice that. But they don't."

"That wasn't the point," Byakuya growled. "And you know it."

"Don't worry. I tell you what to do. You just have to do it. And be gentle and kind and all of that other fatherly stuff."

"You're not seriously still on that."

"Daddy Byakuya. Sounds good."

"What sounds good?" Renji asked, ducking into the tent. Unohana opened her mouth to answer, and Byakuya turned on her.

"Don't you dare!"

Renji sighed. "I'm missing something, aren't I?"

"Yes." Unohana sighed. "And I'm not allowed to tell you."

"It's not important," Byakuya told him. "At all."

"Just embarrassing?" Renji asked with a crooked grin. "Oh well. So, what's up?" Byakuya shifted again. As light as she was, Kaili's weight was beginning to make his arms cramp, although, in his defence, he wasn't used to holding his arms in that position for very long.

"Don't feel good," Kaili muttered into Byakuya's shoulder. "I wanna go _home_." Renji sighed and gently patted Kaili's head.

"You two are going to take care of her," Unohana informed the two of them.

"Not a good idea," Renji said. "I have no clue how to take care of sick children."

"Join the club," Byakuya agreed.

"Just do what I say and you'll be fine."

"No we won't," Renji muttered. Unohana frowned at him.

"You _will_. Now _listen_!"

They listened. What else were they going to do? Unohana wasn't taking any arguments out of either of them.

* * *

><p><strong>Just to be clear the whole Bya-Daddy, Renji-Mommy thing was a joke. It does <em>not<em> reflect my standing on the whole who's seme/uke (or is it spelt with an i?) dilemma. I personally think it works fine either way. I don't have any personal favorite... But, just out of interest, which do you prefer?**

**Right... If you didn't get the Star Trek references... wow. Just wow. You haven't lived!**

**-Stormy**


	18. Riddles, rules and forced cuddles

**Thank you to everybody who told me their preferences on the whole seme/uke thing! I think it's about even...**

**If I owned Bleach the seasons wouldn't be split in half and sold for _way_ too much. It really is too bad that I don't own Bleach...**

* * *

><p>Kaili had clung to Byakuya's hand <em>all day<em>, except for the times when she was clinging to Renji's hand, or one of them was carrying her. By evening, when the three of them were sitting in the tent, Byakuya and Renji were both about ready to strangle Unohana, and Kaili was _still_ grumpy. She didn't like the medicine, because it tasted icky. Renji agreed with her on that one, but it was hell trying to explain to her that she had to take it anyways. In the end Byakuya had gotten that one. Renji wasn't quite certain _what_ he'd said, but it had worked. And that was all that he really needed to know.

Now Kali was snuggled up on Renji's lap, clinging to his shirt with one hand, the other hand holding Byakuya captive. The two of them were kneeling with their knees touching, Kaili pulling them both forwards, and keeping them as close to her, and each other, as their dignities would let her. Both Byakuya and Renji were waiting for the small child to fall asleep, so that they could get some rest, and get out of their position. Unfortunately for them, Kaili didn't seem to be in any mood to go to sleep. Instead she just curled up between them, occasional switching between their laps.

"Well, this is degrading," Byakuya whispered.

"Being held captive by a little kid," Renji agreed, shifting a bit. "_Nobody_ hears of this."

"Agreed." Byakuya attempted to lean back and Kaili yanked on his robes again, pulling him forwards.

"No." she commanded, as though he were a bad dog. Renji bit back the urge to laugh at the look on Byakuya's face.

"Now what?" Renji asked.

"I don't know." The two of them stared at each other over Kaili's head, and they were so close that Renji could have kissed him. Unfortunately, with Kaili clinging to his shirt, he doubted that he would have been able to get away if Byakuya didn't like that. So he contented himself with memorizing every little bit of Byakuya's face, so that when the mask went back up, Renji could remember what he looked like when he wasn't hiding himself from the world.

* * *

><p>They ended up playing twenty-questions for a while, before it got boring, and then they played I spy. That didn't work out very well, given as they were in a small tent, furnished with nothing but three blankets, and three pillows, and only the three of them. It ended up even more boring than twenty-questions.<p>

"I spy, with my little eye, something black."

"My robes."

"Yep."

"I spy, with my little eye, something red."

"My hair."

"Correct."

"I spy, with my little eye, something brownish."

"The tent."

"Uh-huh."

"I spy, with my little eye, something… beige. I think it's beige. Or something very similar to beige."

"The blankets."

"Yes."

"Do you want to do something else now?"

"Please."

So, they went back to playing twenty-questions, which once again got very boring, very fast. But they were still stuck sitting together because every time that one of them tried to move, Kaili would pull them forwards again with a very sharp 'No.'

Renji yawned, letting his head hang forwards. "What time is it?" he asked sleepily.

"Late." Byakuya told him. How could Kaili not be tired if the two of them, both adults, were falling asleep? This was getting ridiculous.

"Wonderful," Renji muttered. "Is there caffeine in that medicine or something?"

"Must be. Ask Unohana in the morning. If there is…" Byakuya trailed off, yawning.

* * *

><p>Half an hour later, both of them were asleep. Byakuya had his head on Renji's shoulder, and Renji's head was tilted to the side to rest on Byakuya's. Kaili was still awake, and she smiled sleepily, and curled up closer to Byakuya, too hot now. Byakuya's skin was always cold, and Renji's was always hot. It worked perfectly to her purposes to keep both of them close. It also offered them bonding time. Kaili shut her eyes, nestled against Byakuya's chest, and fell asleep.<p>

* * *

><p>Byakuya woke up in the middle of the night, and straightened slowly, being careful not to wake Renji. Kaili was asleep, her grip on his robes loosened. He gently settled her on the ground, and pulled a blanket over her. Renji was still sleeping, slumped over. Byakuya carefully undid his ponytail, and untied his bandana. He pushed him down until he was sprawled on the ground, head resting on a pillow. Then he just watched Renji sleep. He liked the way that Renji's face relaxed in sleep, and the way that his hair pooled around him. Absentmindedly, Byakuya pushed a long red strand of hair off of Renji's face. His hair was soft under Byakuya's fingertips, and his skin was warm. He was gorgeous, and Byakuya longed rest his head on his shoulder again, and go to sleep close to him, soaking up his heat, but he couldn't. Byakuya jerked away. He couldn't. He was a Kuchiki, and he wasn't allowed to be anyone but what the Kuchiki model dictated him to be. He wasn't allowed to do anything except that which a Kuchiki should do. And curling up close to the Rukongai rat next to him, especially since this particular Rukongai rat was male, was definitely <em>not<em> something a Kuchiki should do. Byakuya went to his corner of the tent, and lay down, staring at the ceiling of the tent and trying to get to sleep.

A sleepless hour later, Byakuya crawled out of the tent, and went for a walk. The moon tracked his progress across the rubble that had become of the Seireitei. Dawn found him standing by the ruins of the Sixth Division. They would start rebuilding the Seireitei soon, starting with the barracks, and moving on. He really hoped that somebody in the Sixth knew how to build, because _he_ sure didn't. They'd just have to learn as they went, he supposed. It would be mass chaos, he figured. But it could be amusing.

Never mind Vikings and light bulbs. The real question was how many Shinigami does it take to build the Sixth Squad Barracks?

* * *

><p><strong>For anybody who didn't get the last two sentences, you know the joke, 'How many Vikings does it take to light a light bulb', or something along those lines. Yeah... I turned it into Shinigami.<strong>

**IMPORTANT**

**There is a poll up on my profile, concerning the classification of this story. Please go vote- should it stay hurt/comfort, or should I change it to humor? Vote please! Be responsible citizens! Practice for when you're eighteen, or if you're already eighteen, practice for the next election! Please!**

**Another, slightly less important note, I am now taking commissions. I'm going to put the guidelines up on my profile, but if you want a commission, PM me =)**

**-Stormy**


	19. Budgets, requests and nervous Shinigami

**Agh! It is _way_ shorter than normal! I'm sorry! But I was out all day at the waterpark with friends which was soooo much fun, and then when I got home I had a boss fight on Zelda but I needed to finish this and... I hope you know how special you are. I postponed a _boss fight_ on _Zelda_ to write this for you. =)**

**Right. If I owned Bleach, everybody who watched it would get a cookie. If I owned Star Trek, there would be more random ass shots of Kirk and Spock (don't you just _love_ those) and if I owned Death Note, ***SPOILER*** L wouldn't have died. ***END SPOILER*** But you all knew that anyways, right?**

* * *

><p>The days passed somewhat normally after that. Kaili was clingy until she got better, where she actually gave Byakuya and Renji room to breathe. They began to rebuild the Seireitei- a daunting task. The Shinigami were definitely <em>not<em> handymen. Most didn't know one end of a hammer from another, which led to some confusion and made everything that much more difficult. Just as they were starting to clean the rubble away, some extremely brave Shinigami came to Byakuya with a proposition.

"C-captain Kuchiki?" one of them asked. Byakuya was crouched on the ground, carefully clearing out where his desk used to be. Renji looked up from his spot where _his_ desk used to be, interested. Normally people didn't stutter unless they were afraid that Byakuya was going to go Bankai on them. This could turn out to be extremely interesting.

"Yes?" Byakuya didn't bother to look up at them, instead seemingly preoccupied in freeing a small box from the grips of what had once been the ceiling.

"Umm, well we were wondering… Uh," one began.

"Since uh, well, you see…"

Byakuya tugged at the box, frowning when it didn't seem to want to come free.

"Er, we wanted uh."

"Yeah, um…?"

Finally, Byakuya turned his attention onto the two Shinigami in front of him. Renji leaned back, noticing an evil glint in his captain's eyes. Forget Star Trek and Death Note. _This_ was quality entertainment.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, his voice normal, his face just as bored and uncaring as usual. "I don't understand 'Um'." Both Shinigami blushed. That evil gleam was still there, and Renji knew that if the Shinigami didn't spit it out soon, they would be used as target practice for Byakuya's sharp tongue. (**Do **_**not**_** envision that literally. Just don't.**)

",maybeahottuborsomething?" the first one spit out quickly. Byakuya blinked.

"Say that again?"

",maybeahottuborsomething?"

"Slower." Now he sounded exasperated. Renji had a feeling that he actually did know what the man was saying, but was enjoying watching him squirm.

"We were wondering if we could have some revisions done like squad two, maybe a hot tub or something?" Both men winced, waiting for Byakuya to draw Senbonzakura and go Bankai on their asses. Instead he looked almost… thoughtful.

Turning back to his box, and finally managing to get it out, Byakuya answered. "Keep it under 5000 dollars." (**How much is that in yen? Anybody know, because I don't know the conversion, and I'm **_**way**_** too lazy to look it **up) Frowning slightly, Byakuya brushed the dirt off of the box. The two Shinigami just stared at him. Renji did too, not believing what he had just heard. Had Byakuya actually said yes?

"… Was that a yes, Captain?" one asked tentatively, rubbing his ears. Byakuya looked up at them again, fiddling with the latch on the box.

"It certainly wasn't a no," was his blunt reply, before he turned his attention back to the box. He opened it, carefully checking to see if the contents were unharmed. The two Shinigami, recognizing a dismissal when they heard one, ran off.

"That was kind of you Captain," Renji mentioned, standing up. He could just barely see the contents of the box. There was a smooth stone, several photographs- of what, Renji couldn't tell, and the carving that Renji had made when Byakuya had been in the hospital directly after Aizen's betrayal. He'd left it in the hospital room by Byakuya's bed, and had just assumed that he had thrown it out. Now it seemed that Byakuya had kept it. Why? Renji wondered. It was a carving of a bird, its wings spread in flight. It wasn't very good- just a rough outline- but Byakuya had kept it. _Why_?

There was a sharp snap as Byakuya closed the box and set it down. Taking a risk, Renji approached his Captain. The mask was slipping back up, and with it the unapproachable aura around the smaller man. As much as he told himself that Captain Kuchiki was _not_ going to hurt him, Renji still didn't quite believe it. Were Byakuya's defences that good, that he could change even the air around him in a matter of seconds.

"That was kind of you Captain," Renji murmured, crouching down beside him. Byakuya tossed a bit of ceiling onto an ever growing pile, avoiding eye contact.

"Was it?" he asked distractedly.

"Yes. Most other captains would have said no. Do we even have the budget for it?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Abarai, who does the budget?"

"You do."

"Have you _ever_ done the budget?"

"…No…"

"We have the budget for it. Trust me."

"…" Renji still didn't quite believe his captain, but he dropped the subject and went back to his spot, musing over Byakuya's words. _Trust me,_ he'd said. _Trust me._ _I do,_ Renji thought. _I really do trust you._ _I always have, and I _always_ will._

* * *

><p><strong>IMPORTANT<strong>

**Are any of you good artists? Because if you are, PM me, I have some scenes from this that I want somebody to draw for me... If you do I will be eternally in your debt, will give you virtual cookies, and will write whatever you want, within reason. Yeah, I'd be super grateful...**

**So, any takers?**

**Thankee to reviewers! If you didn't review last time... well, why not? Review this time! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. And you get virtual hugs and chocolate bars.**

**-Stormy**

**... I had a quote. But now I forgot it. Damn it all, I'm going to bed!**


	20. Go Fish, pictures and a box of memories

**Well, I defeated the boss on Zelda, which was pathetically easy, but now I'm stuck because the stupid flying elephant bird monster thingies stole the keys to the temple and I _can't get them back_. How messed up is that? The boss is easier than the little monsters.**

**Anyways, nobody probably cares about my troubles on Zelda so... moving on. I am still looking for people to draw pictures for me- thank you to those of you who offered =) The more the better, right? Or merrier. Or something along those lines.**

**I don't own Bleach. If I did, by some fluke of fate, happen to own Bleach, I would probably be at the very least least a half decent artist. Since I can't draw to save my life, I obviously don't own Bleach.**

* * *

><p>Byakuya sat in the tent, alone, carefully turning Renji's carving over and over in his hands. The wood was smooth under his fingers. Staring down into the bird's eyes, Byakuya sighed, tracing the outstretched wings, strained in flight. He wished that he could be everything that the carving represented- free, happy, and expressive. Instead he was stuck with the Kuchiki model, everything that nobody wanted to be- cold, reserved, and completely and utterly trapped.<p>

With another soft sigh, Byakuya nestled the carving back into the box, and lifted the photographs, sifting through them thoughtfully. There were several of Hisana, and he smiled a bit at those. Hisana had been his best, and only, friend. Not his lover- Byakuya had known his sexual preferences even then- just his friend. She had been the only person that he'd had to talk to, the only person he could be himself around. Then, she'd died and left him alone in the world again. By then even Yoruichi had deserted him, banished from the Soul Society, and although Byakuya had always found her annoying, he'd secretly enjoyed her company. But now she was gone for good, and he could never forgive her. Maybe Soi Fon could, but Soi Fon was in love, and love did funny things to people.

Byakuya came to a picture of Rukia, laughing with her friends. It was the only picture that he owned of her, and he kept it close and secret. She didn't know what she meant to him, and if the code of the Kuchikis was concerned, she never would. The next pictures were of Renji. In some he was laughing, a few he was training, a look of pure joy on his face, and in one he was very drunk. That one made him laugh softly, before he tucked it behind the others and found another, this time a painting of a young Yoruichi. He turned the painting in his hand, remembering her, before putting it away again, and coming back to the ones of Hisana. He settled the pictures in the box, and took out the last two items- a smooth rock and a hair tie. _His_ hair tie, the one that Yoruichi had always stolen. He wasn't quite sure why he had kept it, but he had. Maybe it was because it was the only thing left of the little freedom he'd had in his youth. Or maybe it was just because he missed her, and wanted something to remember the first friend he'd ever had, no matter how irritating she'd been. Byakuya dropped the hair tie back into the box, watching it curl into a small pile on the pile of photographs and turned his attention to the stone. His grandfather had given it to him when he was very young.

_This,_ he'd said softly, making sure that he had his grandson's full attention, _represents everything that a Kuchiki should be. Calm, unbreakable, unbendable, and above all, flawless in every form. Keep this with you, to remind you who and what you are. Don't ever forget it._ Byakuya glared down at the stone, before putting it back in the box, and clasping it shut.

Then, he crawled out of the tent, and went for a walk under the darkening sky.

* * *

><p>When Renji and Kaili reached the tent, Byakuya was gone, probably off on another walk. He'd been taking a lot of them lately, but maybe he always took walks, and nobody had really noticed before. After all, he probably never strayed from the Kuchiki Manor grounds, or if he did, it was late enough that nobody was around to see him.<p>

"When'll he be back?" Kaili asked, settling herself on Renji's lap.

"No clue," Renji sighed, glancing over at Byakuya's corner of the tent. It was impeccably neat, his blanket smoothed out over the floor with the pillow centered at the top of it. The box that he had dug out of the rubble earlier that day sat beside it, and for a second Renji felt the urge to open it. He pushed it down. Maybe, someday, Byakuya would tell him what was in it. But that someday would never come if he violated trust now and looked through Byakuya's things without his permission. Actually, as much as he hoped that it would, Renji severely doubted that that day would ever come.

Kaili tugged at his sleeve. "I'm bored." Renji looked down at her, and a faint smile crossed his face. "Can we play a game?"

"What game do you want to play?" he asked.

"Umm…" Kaili thought, her head tilted to the side. She looked sweet like that, with her pigtails crooked and her lips turned up in a cute little half smile. "I dunno," she said finally, crawling onto Renji's lap. "How 'bout… go fish?"

"We don't have any cards."

"Captain Kyoraku does," she told him. "He was trying to play poker with Nanao yesterday, but she hit him with her book and walked away."

Renji chuckled softly. "That sounds like Nanao," he mused softly. "I suppose we could go borrow them."

"_Please?_" Kaili asked. There was no way to resist her when she spoke like that, although really, there was no way to resist her at all. Renji lifted her off of his lap and ducked out of the tent. She followed, and grabbed his hand once they were both standing outside of the tent. "We're going on a quest for the magical cards!" she told him excitedly. "We've got to get them from the wise Kyoraku!"

Renji burst out laughing. "Sure," he agreed. And so they set out on the quest for the Magical Cards.

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><p>When Byakuya got back from his walk, Renji and Kaili were both sleeping, a half finished game of cards between them. Byakuya looked at the abandoned cards, and smiled a bit. It was alright to show emotion if nobody could see him.<p>

"Sorry Renji," he murmured, gently draping a blanket over Kaili's small form. "It looks like you're going to lose."

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><p><strong>Crappy ending, I know... Sorry.<strong>

**I am also still taking commissions so if you want to, check out the rules/info on my profile.**

**Thankee to Reviewers!**

**Please review? Pretty please?**

**-Stormy**

**BTW, anybody looking for some new music to listen to, check out Voltaire. He is _amazing_! I listened to his CD Almost Human the whole time that I was writing the last three chapters. I swear, he's like... a god of music.**


	21. Parties, juice and censored material

**Right... I'm cutting it a bit fine with this chapter- only half an hour until midnight! But I made it. And no, I haven't been procrastinating (well, maybe a little bit) I was stuck. I honestly couldn't think of anything, and I need a few things to happen before the big 'hug' scene. So... I was drinking apple juice and eating fishy crackers and I thought... party. And so... this happened. Please don't kill me!**

**Anyways, if I owned Bleach, we'd know the name of Nanao's zanpaku-to. And if I owned Star Wars, I probably would've watched it. Yeah, I haven't watched Star Wars... I know it's sad but... I'm really bad with movies. I can't watch them through to the end to save my life! Unless it's Harry Potter. I can do that.**

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><p>The weeks passed, and the Seireitei was built again, with many minor (and a few major) setbacks. Since the Sixth Squad's Barracks had been changed around, much amusement was gained by watching people trying to adjust. Renji tried walking through a door that wasn't there. Yuki fell down a set of stairs that <em>definitely<em> hadn't been there before. Many other little mishaps happened, and somehow Byakuya seemed to be there to see them all. It was embarrassing for the person making a fool of themselves but… it was quite fun for him. And he needed something fun desperately. After all, there wasn't much in his life at the moment. His Captain's Haori had been put back on, the Kenseikan had been secured in his hair, his scarf had been wrapped around his neck, his tekkou (**the glovey things!)** once again adorned his slim hands and his mask had gone back on. Once again he was uncomfortable and very, very lonely.

It might have been more bearable had he _not_ had to wear the uncomfortable accessories that showed his status. Everybody knew who he was, after all. He didn't _really_ need to show who he was with uncomfortable garments. But according to Yamamoto, and his late grandfather's memory, he did. Just in case somebody forgot, which was highly unlikely.

The days went back to normal, as though nothing had happened. Sure, in the seclusion of his own home, Byakuya walked into walls that _were supposed to be doors_, and fell down stairs that _weren't supposed to be there_, since of course the manor had been changed around, but in the barracks, he was careful not to do anything like that. Although he had gotten lost once, he'd hidden it well, and nobody had managed to figure it out.

Everything was normal… And then Kaili informed him that she wanted to have a party. And since he couldn't say no to that face, he said yes. So now he was sitting in the newly repaired barracks watching everybody get drunk. Kaili was sulking because of this. She'd insisted on having apple juice, because apparently it was her _favourite_, but most had brought sake anyways.

In order to avoid being trampled, the only non-drinkers, Soi Fon, Nanao, Byakuya, Hitsugaya, Kaili, Unohana and Isane, were huddled in an abandoned corner, watching with fascinated horror.

"I didn't know that somebody's body could bend that way," Soi Fon observed softly, wincing.

"Trust me," Nanao replied tiredly. "Anybody can be a contortionist while they're drunk. They'll feel it in the morning though."

"Oh no…" Hitsugaya groaned. "Not the strip dancing! I'm never going to hear the end of this tomorrow. Matsumoto will have to replay the bits that she can remember in vivid detail."

"And there goes the table…" Isane commented drowsily, leaning her head on her knees. "I hope it wasn't important."

"Not important," Byakuya muttered. "Just expensive."

"Well that sucks then." Soi Fon said.

"Maybe."

"I don't like it." Kaili pouted. "I don't like it when people get drunk. They're only fun to other drunk people!" A burst of raucous laughter from Ikkaku only reinforced her conclusion.

"You're right," Unohana agreed. "But there isn't much to do about it now."

"What is Ikkaku doing to Yumichika?" Soi Fon asked, sounding as though she were mentally scarred for life. Byakuya quickly covered Kaili's eyes.

"What is it?" Kaili asked. "I wanna see!"

"Not a chance," Byakuya replied grimly. Isane toppled over sideways, sound asleep. Unohana chuckled softly, and shook her back awake.

"Wha-?" Isane asked sleepily.

"Come on," Unohana gently pulled her to her feet. "Let's go." She smiled down at Kaili, whose eyes were still covered, and didn't see. "Good bye Kaili. Thank you for the apple juice."

"Bye bye," Kaili waved in Unohana's general direction, and leaned back against Byakuya, obviously realizing that there was no way in hell that he would allow her to view the spectacle in front of them.

"I'm going too," Hitsugaya said. He patted Kaili's head with an uncharacteristic gentleness, waved, and tried to locate the exit. He was back several minutes later. "On second thought…" he began, "I'm just going to stay here. Less chance of being trampled to death." He shuddered. "Or be found by Matsumoto and nearly suffocated to death. Those things are weapons, I swear!"

Nanao and Soi Fon laughed. Kaili looked up at Byakuya, or tried to; he was still covering her eyes. "I don't get it. What things?"

"You'll understand when you're older," Byakuya told her calmly, although inside he was panicking. He definitely didn't want to be the one to give her The Talk. Maybe when the time came he'd hand her off to Unohana and tell her to take care of it. Or, if that didn't work, get Isane to help.

"So…" Soi Fon began awkwardly. "Now what?"

"We wait," Nanao was a veteran at this type of thing, having been dragged into some of Kyoraku's drinking parties. "And then, when everybody's either stumbled home, or passed out, we walk over their unconscious bodies, step on anybody we don't like, and leave."

"That or try to leave and be trampled." Hitsugaya added.

"Can I step on _everybody_?" Kaili asked Byakuya. "They didn't drink the apple juice so I don't like _any_ of them."

"Maybe," Byakuya agreed, looking around for Renji. He found him, standing with Izuru and Shuhei. The three of them were laughing, looking on as Ikkaku and Yumichika did… Something. It involved large quantities of sake, a few shirts, and something that Byakuya could vaguely identify as a light sabre. He knew what the glowing 'sword' was called, but he had no clue what it came from. It had something to do with stars, and somebody called Darth though, he knew that much for a fact.

"So all we do is wait?" Soi Fon asked. "… Well this is boring."

They waited, and watched. The one good thing about all this, Byakuya reflected, was that he learned something new. Their tables couldn't stand up to fourteen people trying to strip dance on one at once.

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><p><strong>Again, crappy ending but... Meh.<strong>

**Still open to commissions! So, want something written? PM me =) Also, anybody who wants to draw pretty pictures for me, PM me =) That's really my answer to anything. PM me.**

**Revew? Please? To make me happy? If I'm happy I might _not_ leave things until the last moment...**

**-Stormy**

**THIS IS SPARTA! (I haven't watched that movie either...)**


	22. Laughter secrets and drunken confessions

**Does anybody else have creepy back to school nightmares, or am I just weird? Last night I dreamt that I was late to school in four different ways, my music teacher from elementary school yelled at me about board games, I got a schedule in _French _(which I can't read, speak, or write to save my life), the school bus was abducted by pirates (and not the Johnny Depp kind either) I was beaten up by said pirates, and then by the school bully who's like... four foot four. Yeah... I'm just weird, aren't I?**

**Anyways, If I owned Bleach, there would be more general cuteness, and more chibis, because I like chibis =) I also don't own Big Bang Theory, Trickster's Choice, Trickster's Queen or Batman. Yeah... I think that's all of the disclaimers needed for this chapter...**

**So, enjoy =)**

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><p>In the end, they did step on everybody that they didn't like- and Kaili made it her mission to step on everybody. Byakuya watched from the doorway, slightly amused, as she jumped from back to stomach to shoulder to face. When she was finished, she collapsed, exhausted, at his feet. Byakuya bent down and scooped her up. He had gotten better at this, and somehow holding her felt natural, instead of awkward. He wasn't sure when the change in thinking had occurred, but he was grateful for it. Kaili was the one thing in his life that seemed to hold meaning now. Somehow she managed to brighten his day with just a sunny smile and cheerful greeting.<p>

Small arms snaked their way around his neck, and soft hair brushed his chin as she nestled against his shoulder.

"Bedtime," he told her, striding out the door and towards the barracks. Kaili still lived alone in her little apartment in the barracks- she insisted on it.

"Story?" she asked him sleepily. "Please?"

"Hmm," Byakuya replied softly, his basic non-committal answer. If she was still awake when he put her to bed, then yes. If she wasn't, well, he wasn't going to wake her up.

As expected, Kaili was asleep by the time that they reached her apartment. Byakuya gently settled her in bed, and tucked the covers around her. Then he stood back, watching her sleep with a sort of paternal pride. Unohana may have been right. He did feel a bit like a father.

Byakuya left, gently shutting and locking the door behind him. He strolled down the passageway, and out into the street, feeling no need to rush. After all, sleep would only evade him when he got home, and he would inevitably end up on these same streets again, walking under a ceiling of stars. There was no need to hurry. It only meant that he would be back out faster.

Sleep was proving difficult to find now. When he did manage to fall asleep, he was plagued with dreams that ranged from disturbing to horrifying. As he slept he watched people die in painful, cruel ways. When he slept, he heard tormented screams, and saw crimson fountains made of the blood of innocents. Sleep for some was a safe haven. Sleep for him was excruciating torture.

Byakuya turned a corner, and nearly ran into Renji, who was so drunk he was most likely mistaking up for down. He was definitely mistaking left for right, as he was headed in the total opposite direction of his apartment. After a brief argument with himself over leading Renji to his apartment, or letting him wander around lost as punishment for getting drunk at Kaili's party, Byakuya gently took Renji's arm, and pulled him in the right direction.

"So…" Renji slurred, stumbling a bit. "What's up?"

"That way," Byakuya replied, pointing helpfully.

"Oh. Thanks." Renji was silent for a moment, before continuing. "Can I tell ya a secret?"

"If you must."

"But ya can't, ya can't tell Captain Kuchiki."

Byakuya blinked. It really was wrong of him to listen, or to encourage him, but Renji wouldn't remember any of it in the morning anyways. Byakuya made a quick decision that had all of his clan elders screaming at them from their graves. "I won't."

"Promise?"

"I promise, I won't tell Captain Kuchiki." Byakuya agreed. "What's the secret?"

"Penny lied about going to college," Renji told him, in all confidentiality. Byakuya stared.

"Sorry… what?" he had a feeling that was from some kind of human world movie or something, but he had no clue which one.

"Heh… sorry, wrong secret."

"Alright, what's the secret than?"

"Ali's spymaster, but you can't tell Alanna."

"…?"

"Cuz she don't approve."

"I think that's the wrong secret too." Once again, the reference went over Byakuya's head.

"You're right. You're pretty smart pal!"

"Thank you." Byakuya was beginning to give up on ever hearing this 'secret'.

"So, anyways, anyways… What was I saying?"

"Secret."

"Right. Secret…"

"…"

"… _I'm batman! Shhhhh_!"

"Well then… good for you." He still didn't get it. Silence again. Yep, Byakuya was pretty sure that he wasn't going to hear this secret. He was beginning to doubt that there even was a secret.

"Hey!" Renji seemed to be starting all over again. "Can I tell ya' secret?"

"Sure."

"But you can't tell C'ptain Kuchiki."

"I won't."

"Promise?"

"Yes. I promise."

"Promise what?"

"I won't tell Captain Kuchiki the secret."

"Thanks. You're exce- ex- exc- great."

"Wonderful."

"I love him."

"… What!" Byakuya exclaimed, beyond startled.

"I love C'ptain Kuch- Ku-"

"Kuchiki?"

"Yeah. Him."

"Really?" Byakuya asked, trying hard to keep his voice neutral.

"Yeah… He's cool ya'know? And gor-gorge- go- pretty."

"Pretty."

"Yeah. An' he smells good."

"Ah."

"Uh-huh."

"…"

"… So. Can I tell you a secret?"

"… You just did."

"Oh…" Renji looked at him contemplatively, or at least as contemplatively as somebody completely drunk could look. "I really do love him," he muttered. And then he passed out.

Pure instinct led Byakuya to catch him, and then once he had, he wasn't quite certain what to do. Deciding that he certainly couldn't just leave him lying in the street, Byakuya lifted Renji up and tossed him over his shoulder. Then, he set out for Renji's apartment again with strict purpose, thinking.

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><p>Renji woke up with a massive headache, and a feeling that something of incredible magnitude had happened the night before. The only trouble was, he couldn't remember it.<p>

"I really have to stop drinking," he groaned, rolling over to look at the clock. Seeing the time, he jumped out of bed, and then doubled over, clutching his head. He was three hours late for work!

When he got there, Kaili was gone somewhere, and Byakuya was calmly working at his desk. He didn't even glance up when Renji walked in, but that was normal. Byakuya was pretty used to Renji's hangovers by now.

"Um, Captain?" Renji asked, shifting awkwardly.

"Yes Abarai?"

"Erm, if you don't mind… could you maybe tell me what happened last night?"

"There was a party."

"… I knew that."

"You got drunk."

"Figured that."

"Ikkaku and Yumichika did… something. I'm not quite sure what it was yet. Rangiku and some friends strip danced on a table. The table broke. The ones who could walk moved to a different table. That one broke too."

"…!"

"You tried heading home, but you were going in the complete opposite direction. You also didn't know what 'up' was." Renji groaned, and buried his head in his hands. There was a tinge of amusement in Byakuya's voice, as though he were enjoying himself immensely. "Then, you told me a secret. Well, several secrets."

"Oh dear lord…" Renji moaned, and dropped into his chair. He had a feeling he knew where this was going, but he hoped that he was wrong. "What were the secrets?"

"Penny lied about going to college, Aly's spymaster, but you can't tell Alanna and apparently you're…" yes, Byakuya was _definitely_ enjoying this. "Somebody called Batman," he finished. "Not quite sure what any of that meant really, but you seemed to think it was very important." Renji let his head thud onto his desk, and squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'm _never_ drinking ever again," he groaned.

"I'm sure that will make Kaili very happy," Byakuya replied. "By the way, she's never ever talking to you ever again. Her words."

Renji sighed, and lifted his head. "You don't happen to have any apple juice, do you?"

"Sorry." Byakuya didn't sound too sorry.

"Figures," Renji grumbled. "Listen, I'll work through lunch break to get this finished, kay?"

"Yes, you will."

Renji bit back another groan, and went in search of a little girl who, at the moment, was very angry with him. That, and apple juice. Just in case she decided to kill him.

Renji paused at the door, hearing a soft, indecipherable noise from within. He peered through a crack in the door, and found Byakuya killing himself laughing.

"Bastard," Renji muttered, walking away. But a small smile played with his lips. He'd made Byakuya Kuchiki laugh. That _had_ to be a point for him.

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><p><strong>Well... Hope that was a good chapter, and not filler crap. I promise, something big's going to happen within the next four chapters. Hopefully.<strong>

**If you didn't get the references, the first one was from Big Bang Theory which is an _awesome_ TV show, the second was from Tricksters Choice/Tricksters Queen by Tamora Pierce, who is an amazing auther, and if you want to read some good books, read hers, and the last one was from... well I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count. It's from Batman, _duh. _I mean, I haven't even watched that much Batman and I got that one.**

**Anyways, Reviews are welcome, thankee to all reviewers, anybody who wants to take up my request on drawing for the story, please do- but send me the links to any pictures if you post them- I'm open for commissions, and if your bored and/or lonely, PM me. That basically covers everything.**

**Love from (yeah, I'm giving you love. Aren't I a nice person today? You should review, just to be nice back. Call it your good deed of the day)**

**-Stormy**


	23. EPIC HUG SCENE!

**So, some of you may have noticed that the title of this chapter is a tad different than the others. If you didn't because you don't read the titles of the chapters, somebody _please_ tell me why I'm putting all that effort into making them up...**

**Anyways, that's right peoples! Thirteen chapters after the suggestion was made, the hug _finally_ happened. This chapter is dedicated to makaykay15, who has been waiting for the hug since chapter ten. Sorry for the wait but... Yeah. Just sorry for the wait.**

**I tried a new style out for this chapter- switching back and forth between the POVs. Tell me if you like?**

**It's a bit shorter than usual but Meh. We'll go with it.**

**If I owned Bleach I'd be a whole lot richer.**

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><p>His mask had gone back up, and depression weighed heavily on Byakuya's shoulders. His dreams were only getting worse, and everything seemed to be coloured in black and white. Even Kaili couldn't cheer him up, although she tried. The knowledge that he could never mean anything for anybody was pulling him down, pressing him between despair and awful, biting loneliness. If he weren't a Kuchiki, Byakuya might have killed himself. But if he weren't a Kuchiki, he would have been allowed to be himself, and he wouldn't be considering it in the first place. If he weren't a Kuchiki, life might actually have been worth living.<p>

Instead it was a fight just to keep putting one foot in front of the other. He longed to take the paperwork and throw it out a window. He wished that he could laugh at Kaili's antics, instead of watching with an unreadable expression. He wanted to wrap his arms around Renji's neck, and feel the other man's lips against his. He wanted to scream, to laugh, to cry, to _feel_, but he couldn't. He was a Kuchiki, and nothing else mattered but the title. He was a Kuchiki so he must be a Kuchiki, in every meaning of the name.

And so he dragged himself through life, forcing the mask up and never showing how awful he truly felt. After all, that's what Kuchikis did.

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><p>Renji spent two hours tossing and turning, before he got out of bed and pulled on his Shinigami robes. There was no way that he was going to get to sleep, and he knew it. Instead he took a page out of Byakuya's book and went for a walk.<p>

He hadn't been expecting to see his Captain staring out at the stars. The small man looked as though he was near his breaking point, or like he had passed it, but was fighting not to show it. For a moment, Renji contemplated turning and walking away and leaving Byakuya in peace, but then Kaili's words rang through his head. It was as clear as though she were standing right next to him.

_Maybe you should give him a hug. He likes you, he really does like you. He needs a hug, really, really badly. Maybe you should give him a hug._ So, with the suggestions of a child repeating themselves in his mind, Renji braced himself for potential death by a million tiny blades, and approached his captain.

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><p>Byakuya was so absorbed with not crying that he didn't notice that Renji until he spoke from behind him. "Captain?" Byakuya turned, his noble mask firmly secure. He was expecting questions, maybe along the lines of 'what're you doing here,' or maybe, 'are you alright?' He was <em>not<em> expecting strong arms to wrap around his waist and pull him close. He stiffened for a moment, and then succumbed and let his head rest against Renji's shoulder.

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><p>Renji waited for the inevitable 'Scatter Senbonzakura,' or the even more likely, but much more dreaded, 'Bankai. Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi' (<strong>guessed at spelling. Don't kill me.<strong>), but neither came. Instead Byakuya relaxed against him. It was unexpected, but very welcome. Unfortunately, Renji wasn't quite certain what to do next. He hadn't really been planning for this possibility. Staying that way seemed a good way to start. After all, it wasn't as though either of them was protesting it.

Byakuya's skin was cold, and he was shivering. Maybe staying out there wasn't the best, but Byakuya didn't really seem like he was going to move any time soon. Actually, he seemed quite content where he was, and since Renji was quite happy with the smaller man in his arms, _he_ wasn't complaining.

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><p>He could've pulled away anytime, really. He could've said 'that's enough', and left it at that. Instead he stayed right where he was, and when Renji tugged him a bit closer, his grip tightening, Byakuya couldn't keep the mask up any longer. It shattered into a million tiny pieces, resembling his Bankai, but not nearly as pretty. And once you started to cry, it was nearly impossible to stop.<p>

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><p>It took Renji a moment to realize that Byakuya was crying onto his shoulder, but once he did, he wasn't quite sure what to do next. He wasn't used to people crying on his shoulder. Gently, he rested his chin against Byakuya's head. This close Renji could smell him, a unique blend of sakura and steel. With anybody else, the scent would have been odd, but it suited Byakuya perfectly. Sakura and steel, just like his zanpaku-to. Sakura and steel, just like his personality.<p>

Byakuya's fingers clutched at the front of Renji's robes, as though his grip were the only thing holding him to life. And maybe, Renji contemplated, it was. After all, hundreds of years of pent up emotions had to leave somebody very depressed. Maybe, Byakuya had needed this for longer than anybody could ever imagine, and nobody had noticed until Kaili had come along.

Kaili, a young child, had noticed what nobody else had ever guessed at. Renji lifted a hand, and carefully ran it through Byakuya's soft hair. He definitely owed Kaili more than just apple juice.

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><p><strong>Thankee to all reviewers =)<strong>

**Please review this chapter and tell me what you think. Even if you didn't review any of the other chapters, review this one, please! It's the most important one of the story, basically, and since I tried out that new style mentioned above I _really_ want to know what you think! Good, bad, horrid?**

**Oh yes, and if I didn't seperate any of the sections, I'm sorry... I think I got them all but...**

**Until the next chapter**

**-Stormy**


	24. Kisses, icecream and happy endings

**I went horseback riding today, and I now know the exact definition of 'Saddle Sore'. I swear, my horse _hated_ me! He kept trying to buck me off, and bite my leg, and he almost ran away with me on him a couple of times... And added to that my saddle was crooked so I was constantly falling off and... Well. We all know that I'm never going to be a knight now... maybe I'll settle for an archer XD**

**Anyways, if I owned Bleach there would be more cuddly moments. I like cuddles!**

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><p>Renji had sat down, pulling Byakuya onto his lap. The other man was completely still, barely breathing, his face hidden. Running his fingers through Byakuya's silky hair, Renji smiled softly. If he had known that Byakuya had needed a hug that bad, he would have done it earlier.<p>

"Captain," Renji began, but Byakuya cut him off.

"Call me Byakuya."

Renji's smile turned into a grin. "Only if you call me Renji, Byakuya," he stopped, loving the way the name rolled off of his tongue. "Byakuya," he repeated. "Bya-ku-ya."

"Are you going to get to the point?" Byakuya asked, nestling his face against Renji's neck. His nose was cold against Renji's warm skin.

"Give me a moment," Renji replied, adding, "Byakuya."

"Hm." The soft laugh made Renji's day.

"Right, anyways…"

"…?"

"I forget."

This time Byakuya actually chuckled. He _chuckled_. Renji's grin widened. They sat in silence for a while, but it wasn't anything like the dense heavy silence that coated the air in their office. It was a comfortable silence.

"Renji," Byakuya's voice was soft. "When you were drunk, after the party…"

"With the secrets?" Renji asked, wincing.

"That one," Byakuya agreed. "You told me one more secret."

"If it had anything to do with Spiderman or Harry Potter, I can totally explain it."

"… What? No. It had _nothing_ to do with Spiderman or Harry Potter."

"Or Fullmetal Alchemist?" Renji asked.

"No."

"Okay good. Anyways, this secret."

"You told me you loved me," suddenly Byakuya's face was very close to his. "Is that true?"

Renji stared at him for a moment, and then decided the moment was too perfect to let pass. He leaned forwards a bit, and kissed him, one hand gently cupping his cheek, the other tight around Byakuya's wrist, in case he decided to go for Senbonzakura. He didn't. After a shocked moment, Byakuya relaxed against him and kissed him back. Renji pulled back.

"Course it was true," he replied. "I'd never lie to you… Well, I did about being Batman, but other than that..."

It was Byakuya's turn to stare for a moment, before a small, relieved smile danced on his lips.

"I love you too," he murmured, and Renji kissed him again, pulling him closer.

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><p>For the first time in… well, forever, the atmosphere in the office wasn't tense. Although Byakuya had his back to Renji, he could basically see the grin on the redhead's face. Kaili seemed to feel the change, and she seemed quite happy about it. Had this been her intention all along? Byakuya wondered, fingering the pen that he was holding. If so, than Kaili was probably the smartest kid in existence. Although, he admitted, a small smile playing with the corners of his lips, even if it weren't her intention, she still was the smartest kid in existence, or at least, she was to him.<p>

A stack of papers landed on his desk, and Byakuya found himself looking into wide, innocent emerald eyes. Kaili clambered onto his lap, and leaned back against him, her head resting on his shoulder.

"Can I get some ice cream please?" she asked, tilting her head back so that she could look into his face. "Pretty please?" Byakuya looked down at her, and then lifted her off of his lap and stood. Kaili grabbed a hold of his hand instantly.

"Come on Renji," Byakuya said. His voice was quiet, like always, but it carried through the small office just fine. "We're going for ice cream." Renji grinned at him, and took Kaili's other hand.

"Wonderful." He replied. "I never want to see a piece of paper _ever_ again."

"Too bad," Byakuya told him, a teasing note to his voice. "Because we're coming straight back here."

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><p>******* One Year Later *******<p>

* * *

><p>Byakuya's eyes fluttered open, and he found himself looking at Renji's sleeping face. He smiled a bit, and wriggled out from under Renji's arm, being careful not to wake the other man. Silently, he crept out of the bedroom, and down the hall, to a large window in the living room. There he stared out at the stars, thinking.<p>

In the year after Byakuya and Renji had finally, as some would crudely put it, 'hooked up', he hadn't had one nightmare. Kaili and Renji had moved in with him, and suddenly the mansion didn't seem quite as lonely, when filled with Kaili's giggles, and Renji's rough laughter. Byakuya liked to sit in the chair in the corner of the room with a cup of tea and watch silently as the two ran around the room, playing all sorts of different games. Sometimes he would join them, but mostly he just watched with a small smile on his face.

The two of them were his whole life, and he loved them both. Quietly Byakuya stood up, and stood on his tiptoes to find his box, which was hidden at the top of a tall cupboard. He had never shown Renji or Kaili what was inside of it, and neither of them had asked. Now, new pictures had joined the old ones in the box. Ones of Kaili, of Renji, of Kaili and Renji, and one of all three of them, although he had been forced into that one. He liked photographs, but he didn't like being the one _in _them.

He sifted through the items in the box until he found the one that he was looking for, the smooth, round stone. He stared down at it for a moment, before shutting the box and walking barefoot into his garden until he reached the river. There he hesitated for a moment, before throwing the stone as hard as he could. There was a soft thud as it hit the riverbank on the far side of the river, and he smiled with satisfaction.

"Whoa…" Kaili commented from behind him, and Byakuya started a little. He hadn't known that she was there. "You really didn't like that, did you?" Byakuya turned to face her, and his heart melted a little. Her hair was out of its usual pigtails, and hung in messy curls around her thin face. She was clutching a blanket around her like a cloak, and watching him with curiosity in her grass green eyes.

"No," he agreed, scooping her up. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"I couldn't," she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck, while still keeping the blanket firmly in her grip. "I think there's a monster under my bed."

"Is there?" Byakuya asked. "Well we'll just have to get rid of it, won't we?"

"Uh huh." Kaili let her had rest on his shoulder. "Will you tell me another story?" Byakuya smiled down at her.

"Of course I will."

* * *

><p><strong>Good news and bad news. Bad news, the story's over. Yep, this is the last chapter. The good news however, is that I'm thinking of writing a sequel. Thoughts?<strong>

**Anyways, thankee to all reviewers! And just because this is the last chapter does _not_ mean that you can't review. Please do, and make me happy.**

**Thanks for sticking with me, and I'm so glad this didn't crash and burn like I was expecting.**

**-Stormy**


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